We'll Be Home For Christmas
by Gumnut
Summary: The boys can't fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way. Science!Gordon Artist!Virgil
1. Prologue: Twas the Week Before Christmas

Title: We'll be home for Christmas

Prologue: 'Twas the week before Christmas

Author: Gumnut

8 Dec 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: The boys can't fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way.

Word count: 1437

Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Minor various ships, mostly background.

Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos we haven't seen it yet.

Author's note: This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic and it is a big one ::headdesk:: I hope you enjoy it. I know I have thoroughly enjoyed researching a gorgeous corner of this planet.

My prompts were:

TAG Christmas pudding contest, points awarded for taste, originality and flammability.

"I don't care if it's Christmas…you ARE NOT bringing THAT back to the Island!"

Driving home for Christmas.

I'll let you work out which I managed to include in this :D

Many thanks to vegetacide and scribbles97 for cheering me on and their wonderful support through this craziness. And to onereyofstarlight for geeking out with me over the setting.

And as always, thank you all for creating such a fantastic fandom. Thundernerds rock! I hope you all have a wonderful festive season. Thank you all so much for everything.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

Looking back, it really could have happened to any of them. Hell, now it had happened once, it was even more likely it could happen to any of the rest of them, but of course it had to be Virgil and, of course, it had to happen a week before Christmas.

Fortunately, not only Gordon and Alan, but also John was aboard Thunderbird Two when her pilot folded in half with a groan. The great green behemoth responded to his touch and for a second there, the whole ship tipped sideways.

Alan lost his hard-earned sandwich, and Gordon, who had been half asleep in the co-pilot's chair, despite the coffee he had consumed not five minutes ago, received an adrenalin spike that was well used in the next half an hour or so.

It had been a hard week. Australia was on fire. Every year the drought dried continent suffered and every year International Rescue did all it could to help. Brains had even designed some specialised equipment, deployed through Tracy Industries to help dampen the eucalypt fuel load, but the change of climate over the last hundred odd years had done its damage and the ecosystem suffered for it.

It was painful to watch.

And tiring to fight.

John had taken to coming down not only for Christmas, but for the fires. He had developed a communications network, tied into TB5, to help coordinate the fire services of the country and pin point the hot spots. At the end of the last outbreak, Gordon had been gobsmacked to find his usually reclusive brother sprawled in a chair beside the Australian Fire Defense Network chief, beer in hand, swapping stories.

It had helped that the chief was the middle of five himself and a communications specialist pushed into management. There was much commiseration.

But none of the past really foretold this little hiccup.

Later when Gordon referred to said incident as a 'hiccup', Virgil's eyebrows had frowned so much, they'd physically climbed off his head and slapped Gordon around his.

Or it could have been Virgil's hand. Gordon was too busy ducking to really identity the body parts his brother was using.

So, with three brothers aboard, Virgil had plenty of back up.

Gordon was fully awake and stabilising Two before he had even had a chance to draw in a breath. They were halfway across the Tasman Sea, finally on the way home for a well-deserved break.

"Virgil?" John was out of his seat and moving towards the pilot.

"Uh, I'm okay." The man straightened, still in his silver firefighting suit, minus the helmet. A quick look in his brother's direction and Gordon could see it was all a lie. Even through the soot on Virgil's face, his brother's complexion was pale, almost green. "Just a stitch."

"Doesn't look like one from here, bro." Gordon frowned as John gently nudged Virgil back in his seat. The pilot closed his eyes and lay back, his shoulders dropping just a little. John reached over to the console and flicked a couple of switches. Virgil's vitals sprang up in all their holographic glory.

Even Gordon could see something was seriously wrong. "You have a fever. What the hell, Virg?"

His brother stared at his stats and frowned. "Just thought I was hot."

No surprise considering the conditions they were working in.

John sighed. "Your suit has active refrigeration, Virgil, you know that. You should be the coolest of all of us."

If it had been a different situation, Gordon would have then started a 'discussion' on who exactly was the coolest or the hottest of the brothers. As it was, another groan from his engineer brother killed all conversation other than medical concern.

"What is it?" John disengaged Virgil's seat from the dash, pulling it back and giving him access to his older brother.

"My side." Virgil's eyes were squeezed shut.

His lower right side.

Five minutes later and Gordon was beelining Two to the nearest hospital, which turned out to be Auckland near the northern tip of New Zealand.

Less than an hour later, Virgil had his very angry appendix removed.

Of all things.

For the past three days, it had been a mixture of firefly pod and fire exo-suit. His brother had been tossing about massive hoses, shifting huge amounts of timber, excavating firebreaks and water bombing from Two.

Apparently, all while suffering from appendicitis.

When Scott arrived on scene, he was a walking facepalm.

When Virgil woke up, it was all kind words for the first hour or so while he recovered from the anaesthetic, but after that, the tongue lashing Scott delivered was enough to strip the paint off the walls of Virgil's hospital room.

Grandma ended up dragging the man from the room.

Everyone was quiet after that.

No one liked it when Scott got scared.

Least of all Scott.

But even Gordon had to agree that his eldest brother had a point. Appendicitis wasn't something that didn't come with symptoms. Virgil admitted that he had noted some pain, but he had been busy. There had been more important things.

Scott's response to that was only suitable for mature audiences.

Gordon couldn't help but agree after having to watch his brother writhe in pain on one of his own hover stretchers while they had been on approach to Auckland.

But it had happened when it had happened and everyone was safe, Virgil included. There were much worse scenarios available considering their occupations and the entire family was grateful it had turned out best it could.

Scott was still livid, though, likely because the man was exhausted. They were all exhausted.

Grandma eyed all of them in turn, cornering each of them in their hotel rooms. It didn't take her more than half a day to conclude that International Rescue needed a well-earned break. Virgil's illness made a great excuse and her meeting with Scott was short, sharp and to the point.

The Commander of International Rescue contacted the GDF not long after, advising their aunt that their organisation would not be available for the next week. Eos was tasked with redirecting emergency calls after Grandma grabbed John by the scruff of his neck and with an equally sharp word in his ear, grounded the spaceman beside his brothers.

Virgil received a few glares, but the tired man just rolled over awkwardly and went back to sleep. Apparently, he agreed with Grandma.

Always did, the big Grandma softie.

Except perhaps with her cooking, but that led Virgil to being the biggest victim in that department because despite his incapacity to lie, he would do anything for the woman.

Virgil was released from the hospital a day after his surgery and they helped him back to their hotel rooms and set him up with the holoprojector and an appropriate stash of snacks and engineering journals. Kayo even bought him a sketchbook and an array of art materials.

For two days, the brothers hung out with him or darted out to the shops for convenience's sake. Copious amounts of takeout were consumed, a treat they were often denied on the Island. But ultimately five usually very active men got very bored very quickly.

They couldn't go home, because Virgil wasn't allowed to fly. His operation excluded air travel for at least seven days, which meant, to add insult to injury, they would be stuck on the mainland for Christmas Day.

Their first Christmas off in who knew how many years, and they couldn't even share it at home.

John distracted himself by linking in with Eos and helping out with emergency calls...until Grandma discovered him and rounded on both him and Eos with the ire Scott had managed to inherit.

Both father and daughter behaved after that, Eos a little stunned at the power of the eldest Tracy.

Alan dove into his computer games and hermitized. Gordon could only swim so much, so resorted to pranking Alan, which ended up in the brawl of the century and half the penthouse draped in toilet paper.

Scott turned to Tracy Industries and began phone calls that lasted hours. Virgil sent Gordon to chase him down.

Scott quite frankly ignored him, which led to Virgil hauling himself off the couch and doing the chasing himself.

That led to a screaming match that ended with both men pale when Virgil twisted angrily and groaned as he pulled at his stitches.

The atmosphere plummeted after that and the whole penthouse floor deteriorated into a sullen gloom.

It was shaping up to be an ass of a Christmas.

Until Gordon had an idea.

-o-o-o-

End prologue


	2. Day One: A Tale of a Fateful Trip - Pt1

Title: We'll be home for Christmas

Day One – A Tale of a Fateful Trip – Part 1

Author: Gumnut

8 Dec 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: The boys can't fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way.

Word count: 3490

Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Minor various ships, mostly background.

Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos we haven't seen it yet.

Author's note: This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic and it is a big one ::headdesk:: I hope you enjoy it. I know I have thoroughly enjoyed researching a gorgeous corner of this planet.

Many thanks to vegetacide and scribbles97 for cheering me on and their wonderful support through this craziness. And to onereyofstarlight for geeking out with me over the setting.

And as always, thank you all for creating such a fantastic fandom. Thundernerds rock! I hope you all have a wonderful festive season. Thank you all so much for everything.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

Day One: A Tale of a Fateful Trip

Virgil was miserable.

Pain was minimal as long as he didn't move too much. He didn't really even need any of the painkillers that he was given to take with him at the hospital. It was just that he knew his brothers were tired, and despite the attractions of the beautiful city of Auckland, all they really wanted to do was go home.

His brothers could quite easily do just that. The 'birds were at the local GDF base, it would be a matter of minutes and they would be home. But Virgil wasn't allowed off the ground, they wouldn't risk him and they wouldn't leave him behind, no matter how many times he told them to do just that.

The glare Scott raked him with the last time he suggested it had been scathing.

Didn't make him feel any better.

Grandma, of course, sensed his sadness and was known to slip up behind the couch he was chained to and wrap her arms around him. She kissed his hair and mumbled reassuring words in his ear.

He was ever so grateful, but he was still miserable.

Balled up cartridge paper lay about his feet. His pencil just wouldn't create anything of value. Creating gave him a boost, and he desperately wanted to feel something positive, so he persisted, but the pile of balled up paper at his feet just got bigger and in the end he threw the pad and pencil aside, wincing when the pencil hit the table and likely destroyed the lead inside.

With a groan he levered his feet onto the couch and curled up into a flinching ball of misery.

His brain conveniently listed off all the positives about his life, everything he should be thankful for and all the reasons he shouldn't be feeling sorry for himself. That just made him angry and annoyed that he was so pathetic.

God, he hated this.

He wasn't really that ill. Just had some small difficulty moving and couldn't fly to go home.

His family was suffering and it was all his damn fault.

"Hey, Virg?" The voice was soft, but it was definitely Scott testing to see if he was awake.

"What?" So he was grumpy, big deal.

"You're awake."

Well, yeah. He didn't answer that.

Scott edged into his line of sight. Maybe his brother sensed his foul mood.

Of course, that thought just made him feel worse. The word 'burden' came to mind.

He closed his eyes, took a second, and then forced himself once again upright. Familiar hands reached into help, gently holding his shoulders until he was steady. "I'm fine."

Scott shifted the detritus over on the coffee table and sat down in front of Virgil, his long frame folding neatly and a lot smoother than Virgil had any hope of achieving at the moment. "How would you like to go home?"

Virgil looked up at him. "How? I can't fly."

"Flight is only one way to get to Tracy Island." He smiled. "We have a very versatile aquanaut on our team."

Virgil stared at him. "Thunderbird Four? It's just as pressurised as Two. Carries the same risks."

The smile softened. "No, Virgil, Gordon can pilot more than a submarine. He's bought us a boat."

"A boat?"

"Actually, technically it is a yacht and a luxury one at that." Gordon's grin was broad and eager as he entered the room. "All aboard for Tracy Island, bro. She's got all the perks and enough under the hood to get us there in time for Christmas."

Virgil stared at him. Then stared at Scott. "Really?"

Scott's smile was a sight. "I really don't know why we didn't think of it earlier."

"Because all you pilot types live in the clouds." Gordon strode up to his eldest brother and dug him one in the ribs before turning to Virgil. "So, what do you say, Virg? Up for a little cruise? Should take us about three days. Kayo and Grandma have gone Christmas shopping and will likely haul half of New Zealand's food supply back in Two. Scott's already stashed One and Tracy Two can stay until we need to pick her up." Gordon had obviously worked out all the details. His brother was literally bouncing where he stood. But then it wasn't often the aquanaut got to ferry his family around.

Virgil stared at his brothers. "Us three?"

Scott's smile became a grin. "No, us five. All of us."

"Five bachelors cruising on the open sea." Gordon waved his hand across the room as if peering into a far horizon.

Virgil arched an eyebrow at him. All of them. All five brothers. Together. On a boat. For three days. His gaze turned to Scott. "You sure you want to do this?"

There was something in his brother's blue eyes. "I'm sure."

Virgil straightened where he sat. Surprisingly, he felt lighter, more positive. Could be the energy radiating off Gordon. His brother was always a bucket of sunshine in the rain. "Okay. When do we leave?"

"Yes." Gordon actually fist pumped the air. Virgil couldn't help but grin. "Now, big bro, pack your bags, we are going now."

Virgil's eyes widened. "Now?" That explained why he had been alone all morning.

But Scott had already started moving, Virgil's meagre pile of supplies being shoved into the overnight bag that had sufficed for his hospital stay. "Well, we want to be home for Christmas, so we have to get going."

Virgil moved to stand up.

Gordon stepped in front of him. "Hey, no, you stay there. This is a full service operation, Virg. We've got this."

Another arched eyebrow was an answer to that, but Gordon was as good as his word and before Virgil could think twice, he was in a car, luggage in the trunk and on his way to the docks.

-o-o-o-

Scott was tired. It had been a long...well, everything. International Rescue never stopped, Tracy Industries never stopped and apparently, his brothers never stopped.

Virgil had scared him.

Okay, so nowadays appendicitis was a mild inconvenience, but in the past it was a killer and a painful and sudden one at that. Perhaps it was because it was something innocuous, something not related to a rescue and so out of the blue that it knocked Scott around so badly. But what worried him more was that his brother had ignored the warning signs of serious illness in favour of International Rescue. It wasn't the first time and he wasn't the only one of the brothers to do such a thing. Hell, Scott himself had done it. Lives had been saved despite injury and illness many times. But perhaps this was a louder warning. Perhaps they should be taking better care of themselves.

Grandma's scathing words had driven it home. The Tracys were taking this Christmas off. They were due the time, they were tired, Virgil was ill. Any of those three on their own were cause for concern. All three together forced their matriarch to lay down the law.

Scott knew his place.

And she was right.

But their dilemma was a frustrating one. None of his brothers, particularly John, could fully relax away from home. There were celebrity issues to begin with, and this forced idleness rankled badly.

So, when Gordon suggested they go home via sea, Scott jumped on the idea wondering why he hadn't thought of it earlier. Three days on the ocean. They would still be idle, but they would be away from restrictions, out beneath the blue sky and they could be home for Christmas.

And how long had it been since all five of them had been together like that? Had it happened since they were children on one of Dad's road trips?

Scott swallowed as the car with himself, Virgil and Gordon made its way down to the docks. The sight of the ocean lifted his spirits more than he would ever admit to his aquanaut brother.

The vehicle slipped through a security checkpoint and into a private area.

"Isn't she a beauty?" Gordon was bouncing again, this time in his seat. The aquanaut was going to have the time of his life over this little trip. Scott couldn't help but smile at his happiness.

And yes, the boat was a gorgeous craft, even to a flyboy like himself. She had clean lines and looked fast sitting still. White with a streak of yellow down her length...no doubt, very recently applied along with the name on her bow, _A Little Lightning_.

She was large, but not huge. Just big enough for five tired brothers to live in comfort and fly fast over the waves.

Gordon was spouting off her specs to a politely interested Virgil. Scott tilted his head to one side...no, that spark in his engineer brother's eyes spoke of genuine curiosity. Scott smirked just a little. Might need to watch Virg for the first couple of days to keep him out of the engine. He could pull it apart and put it back together once they were home and he was better.

Scott lent his brother a hand to get out of the car. He was still walking slowly, careful of his incisions, but he was a touch straighter than a couple days ago and he was off medication - though that was no surprise. Getting him to take any medication at any time was a challenge.

"She's beautiful, Gordon. How did you find her so fast?"

Their brother grinned. "I have friends, Virg. You know, those people you can share a drink with from time to time."

Virgil's flat eyed glare was more fond than exasperated. "How much money did you throw at these friends?"

A shrug was all the answer he gave. "It's worth it."

"Give me a number and I'll throw it your way." Virgil was sincerity itself.

"Forget it, bro. Not required." The hand waved in Virgil's direction was entirely dismissive. "Just have a look, Virg. This girl has speed!" And the discussion devolved into specs again as the two of them walked towards the pier.

Hmm, apparently, Scott was cabin boy today.

To be honest, he didn't care.

Loading himself with luggage, he followed their slow progress onto the dock.

-o-o-o-

John wasn't much of a sailor, but when Gordon suggested the trip, he jumped on it.

Out in the middle of the ocean he could see the stars unhindered, it would be quiet except for the wind, water and their boat and, to be honest, it would be good to just be with his brothers uninterrupted.

And besides, on Earth, the ocean was the closest he could get to the weightless freedom of space.

So the astronaut was happy to help prep the boat. Being a resident of Tracy Island required at least some marine knowledge for safety's sake and it felt good to exercise it for a change.

Alan was a little less enthusiastic until John mentioned a new video game recently released in beta. He had meant to mention it to his littlest brother some weeks ago, but life got in the way. Years ago, the two of them used to tackle each other in various games and they hadn't done so in ages. John had contributed to this game at the request of a couple of associates from college. It was a high level space simulator matched with an adventure storyline. It should have a good enough mix of reality and fantasy to keep the hi-octane teenager amused in those moments of too much quiet.

Gordon had already allocated some time to some extra-curricular activities around the Kermadec Island group south of Tracy Island, so there would be plenty of the softer sciences to go around somewhere in their second day of the voyage.

John smiled at Gordon's reaction to the term 'softer sciences'. He hadn't known his younger brother actually knew the definition of the word he used. Then again usage didn't always prove understanding. A few more words in Swedish at a later date should clarify that situation.

As he placed the last of their food supplies into refrigeration, he heard the first distant rumble of a familiar voice, followed by the excited chatter of his aquanaut brother.

His smile widened and he made his way out onto the deck. Virgil had an arm tight against his belly, but his expression was excited as Gordon rabbited on about the engine specifications of his new boat.

Well, John, Alan and Scott had contributed to the cost of the boat, but it really was Gordon's regardless. None of them really cared about it other than it getting them and their brothers home safely. Gordon was the one who loved a good ocean-going vessel and this was definitely a brilliant contender.

John rolled his eyes at Virgil as he offered him a hand getting onboard and his brother grinned at him. A few solid steps and the engineer got his feet securely on the boat. His brown eyes caught John's and he suddenly found himself caught in one of his bear hugs. Perhaps not as rigorous as usual, but just as warm.

John couldn't help, but hug back.

"Hey, where's mine? This was my idea, after all."

Virgil laughed and wrapped his arms around Gordon. "Thanks, fishy." It was brief, but all three men were grinning as the two brothers separated.

"Well, that's sweet and all, but some of us have to work for a living." John smirked as Scott arrived at the water's edge draped in luggage. A quick leap onto the dock and he helped him shed bags and the odd suitcase and with Gordon's help, lug them onto the yacht.

Virgil was hugging Alan, who had emerged from the cabin.

John nudged Scott. Under his breath, "He okay?"

"Seems happy enough about the boat." A sigh. "Looked miserable enough to sink it before I told him."

"Let's hope it cheers him up."

"Let's hope it cheers us all up. It's Christmas, for crying out loud." Scott grabbed the bag with Virgil's art equipment, which had been added to without the artist's knowledge and clambered onto the boat and headed in the direction of the cabin assigned to Virgil.

Gordon had dragged Virgil up to what he called 'The Bridge', what Scott called 'The Cockpit' and what was blatantly and obviously the control centre of the yacht - it would be flyboys versus fish for the entire voyage, no doubt. Said fish could be heard still babbling excitedly to his engineer brother.

John made a note to rescue the invalid if necessary.

Between John and Scott, they unloaded the last pieces of luggage and sent the driver on his way with a generous tip. John ran the supplies list through his head. Gordon had managed all the permits and regulations an international voyage by sea required and there were quite a few. There was less red tape in space.

Of course, when your daughter is an AI, the red tape moves just that little faster. And yes, he did smile to himself. He couldn't help it.

-o-o-o-

_A Little Lightning_ left dock just after the tide turned midafternoon. It would have been better to leave early in the morning, but time was what it was and they set out when they could. It had been decided that between the autopilot and four out of five brothers and no, Virgil, you are not piloting this ship, so forget it, they could make up the time overnight.

"It's a boat, Scott."

"Semantics, Gordon."

"Reality, Scott."

Virgil rolled his eyes. "Are we going to hear this discussion the entire way?" He had stashed himself in a comfortable seat at the back of the 'bridge'. He had a great view of Waitemata Harbour as they cruised slowly past the CBD of Auckland itself. The weather was fantastic and the sea calm as glass. The forecast said the same for the next three days and the only stormy hints were in his brothers' eyes.

"Regardless of the type of craft, Virgil, you aren't able to drive a car at the moment, much less pilot a boat." Emphasis was put on the word 'boat' as his eldest brother glared like a petulant child at his aquanaut brother.

"Fine. I'll be chauffeured."

Gordon snorted as he directed the yacht between past an incoming liner. "Now you know how it feels."

"Know what feels?"

"Not being allowed to drive."

Virgil glared at his brother, but couldn't think of an adequate retort.

Alan snickered.

"Shut up, Alan." Okay, so perhaps Gordon had a point. "She's my 'bird, Gordon."

"It's okay, Virg. We understand, don't we, guys." Gordon grinned back at him. John smiled. Alan rolled his eyes.

Scott shrugged. "I don't have a problem. Virgil doesn't hesitate to let me fly Thunderbird Two."

"You're hardly ever on Two."

"So? Virgil doesn't have a problem with me flying Two, do you Virg?"

Four pairs of eyes stared at him in challenge, but not all from the same perspective.

"Er..."

"You think Scott is a better pilot that the rest of us?" Alan was always the direct one.

Virgil opened his mouth, but his eldest brother beat him to it. "I am a better pilot than all of you."

"What?!" It was an offended scoff from the two youngest.

"Though I will admit that you each have your specialities with your 'birds. Virgil is much better with Two than I am, for example."

"And you are totally pathetic in Four, let me tell you." Gordon was staring out across the bow, but there was still a smirk on his face.

"Excuse me?"

"Who buried my girl in sea sludge recently?"

"That was unavoidable."

Gordon spun on the spot. "What?! You're still claiming you had no choice? I gave you recommendations on comms, you ignored them and look what happened, oh mighty pilot. You may be the greatest in the air, but you suck underwater, Scott, face it."

"And I can run rings around you in Three, trust me on that." Alan folded his arms and stuck his nose in the air.

"Hey!" Virgil shouted and cut off the discussion. "What the hell? You're all damn good and fine pilots, no matter the craft. So, I'm a control freak with my girl. You're all the same. When was the last time I piloted any of your craft? I'm fully trained and fully capable as any of you are, but she is my 'bird and while I'm alive and kicking, I will fly her. That is no reflection on your capability, only on mine. And for god's sake, get over it."

Okay, so he got a little angry. It wasn't his best attempt at diffusing an argument, ever, but the dumb ass looks directed at him were at least silent ones.

"Now stop fighting and let us enjoy this trip." He blinked. "And Gordon, you might want to avoid that oncoming container ship."

The aquanaut jumped and the yacht swerved as he shifted her quickly to the left to give way to the massive cargo carrier bearing down on them. The sharp dirge of the ship's horn emphasised her captain's ire at their deviation into his vessel's path.

"Sorry!"

It was a vain apologetic gesture of his little brother's part. It did put an effective end to their argument nonetheless.

There were many islands at the mouth of Auckland's main harbour and it was extremely scenic, particularly the volcanoes.

Virgil was intimately familiar with volcanic structures and had visited several as part of IR, he understood their power and had witnessed it first hand, but the artist in him never failed to be caught by their symmetry and their mystery. They still caught his imagination and stunned him.

As they accelerated around the islands and out into the bay proper, the sea opened out into a beautifully flat expanse of watery blue. They were still surrounded on all sides by distant patches of green. Another little volcanic island reared up and they cruised past. A couple of dolphins danced along in the wake at their bow. John helped Virgil climb up the stairs to the railing at the front of the boat. He twinged several times, but ignored it despite the frown of Scott following up behind him.

It was worth it to stand up the front, the wind in his hair, a brother either side of him. The last of the islands passed by and the ocean opened up in front of them.

Dolphins continued to keep them company.

Both Scott and John kept a grip on an arm each, wary of him stressing himself in any way. Virgil turned his face into the wind and closed his eyes, letting the sensations fill his mind.

"Better?" It was a whisper from Scott, barely heard above the rush of air over his ears.

Virgil smiled.

"Better."

-o-o-o-

End Day One, Part One.


	3. Day One: A Tale of a Fateful Trip - Pt2

Title: We'll be home for Christmas

Day One – A Tale of a Fateful Trip – Part 2

Author: Gumnut

8 -14 Dec 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: The boys can't fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way.

Word count: 2701

Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Minor various ships, mostly background.

Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos we haven't seen it yet.

Author's note: This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic and it is a big one ::headdesk:: I hope you enjoy it. I know I have thoroughly enjoyed researching a gorgeous corner of this planet.

Many thanks to vegetacide and scribbles97 for cheering me on and their wonderful support through this craziness. And to onereyofstarlight for geeking out with me over the setting.

And as always, thank you all for creating such a fantastic fandom. Thundernerds rock! I hope you all have a wonderful festive season. Thank you all so much for everything.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

The sunset that night was as good as any they had ever seen on Tracy Island. The ocean swell was minimal as predicted and Gordon threw out a sea anchor to hold them tight while they ate dinner. They could have kept going, but instead chose a moment of quiet and together.

The meal was a lazy affair out on the boat deck consisting of burgers assembled by John and Alan.

For a change the conversation was light. A voyage down memory lane, Dad, the saga of FAB2 and Parker's, uh, misfortune with it, and an incident in WASP training that Alan literally had to drag out of Gordon with threats of revealing something worse that the three other brothers were still in the dark about.

The glare sent Alan's way promised some serious dunking at some point. Alan's grin in return clearly said it was worth it.

While they were sitting still, Gordon threw out a sensory buoy. Apparently, the aquanaut had gone all out and stocked the yacht with all his marine biology equipment. No doubt, Scott had been back and forth between Tracy Island with his brother at least once. It wasn't often the scientist in Gordon got a chance to play in his environment.

Sure, Tracy Industries had made some major ecological investments in the area, including the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary which protected a whole swath of ocean between Tracy Island and New Zealand. Gordon had worked with his father early on in that project and advised that as much as possible should be protected. Their proximity to the island group and the purpose of International Rescue hadn't always coincided and it was Gordon, young though he was, who made it work.

And besides, Tracy Island was outside New Zealand's and their other nearby neighbour, Tonga's control and their security system didn't let anyone near them anyway.

But Gordon had always been conscious of the greater good beyond human matters and their family as a whole kept their Island as ecologically isolated as possible to protect its non-human inhabitants. If anything, it was proof that humans could exist within an established ecosystem and impact it minimally as long as due care was taken.

The sensor buoy he threw off the side of their boat sunk into the depths somewhat and sharpened their sensory net to activity underwater including sounds and movement. The holographic interface threw up a three-dimensional display of the water under and around the boat up to a kilometre across.

The aquanaut placed the projector in the middle of the table. "Would you look at that."

Vigil stared at the somewhat blurry dots and shapes moving across the display. "What?"

Gordon rolled his eyes and, reaching into the hologram, zoomed in on one spot teeming with dots of movement. The middle of the table was suddenly full of a school of large fish.

Virgil shifted back and he wasn't the only one.

"A little warning next time, bro." Alan was frowning at Gordon.

"Eh." And no, their aquanaut did not care, his eyes latched on the fish. "A school of tuna, southern bluefin, in fact. Good to see, though they are at the edge of their range." He grabbed his tablet and, while four other brothers stared at him, he entered some data, his eyes dancing between the two displays.

Virgil couldn't help but smile. Scott caught his eye and did the same. Virgil's smile became a grin.

Gordon didn't notice. His fingers darted into the hologram again and minimised the tuna only to bring up another school of fish on the other side of the display. More notes were made on the tablet.

The silence around the table was profound. Even John had a small smile on his face as he watched Gordon.

A dark shape moved amongst the fish. It was much larger and it wasn't until it slid into the centre of the school that it became clear exactly what it was.

"Wow." Alan voiced the awe for all of them. Well, except Gordon who was still staring at the fish.

Virgil resisted the urge to reach out and touch the hologram of the shark cruising through scattering fish. He wasn't sure what type it was, but it was big.

A moment later Gordon realised they were all staring. A glance at the shark and he punched at his tablet. "Bonus! She's tagged!" Another stab or two. "Hilda? Oh my god, it's Hilda."

Hilda?

"Who's Hilda?" Virgil asked the question, but Gordon was absorbed in what he was doing.

"I did not expect to find her this far south."

"You know this shark?" Alan's voice was small.

"What? Oh, yeah, Hilda likes to feed in our lagoon."

"What?" Scott's deeper voice cut through the stunned silence. "That shark was in our lagoon?"

Gordon blinked up at him. "Well, yeah, how do you think I tagged her? Been following her movements for the last two years. She loves some of the smaller fish that feed in the coral reefs. She can't quite fit into all of them, but she enjoys herself in any case. Caught herself a couple of seabirds from the colony on Mateo a few months back. It was awesome." Not once did his eyes leave the display and the shark swimming across their dinner table.

"I am never going swimming again." Alan's voice was tiny.

Gordon finally looked up and his eyebrows shot up. "Hey, she's cool. You lot aren't tasty enough anyway."

Scott sighed and dropped his head into his hand. "Why do I bother?"

Something flashed in the corner of the display and Gordon immediately minimised it back to a sea of floating dots. "Hey, we've got a big one coming into range. Oooh, no, two...yes!"

Virgil jumped as the display flickered and zoomed in again, this time bringing up another large shape. His fish brother was literally bouncing in his seat. "Ooooh, she's a mama." And there beside the humpback whale appeared a young calf.

Virgil stared.

"And they are talking. Listen to this." Gordon grinned as he punched his tablet with an eager finger. Suddenly the room was full of grunting and clicking sounds and the occasional moan.

God.

Virgil reached behind him, fingers grabbing for the sketchbook he had thrown there earlier while still fighting with his pencil. Within moments both pad and pencil were in hand and he was drawing. Fast. The pencil scraping across the page. Curves, bumps waves of lines. On the table the two whales flew through the phantom water. On the paper, Virgil's fingers lost themselves in the art. Graphite formed the whales' flanks, the sharpness of the pencil lead compensated where the display could not provide clarity. But most of all he drew fast. He did not know how long they would be there, or how long he would have the privilege of seeing them.

He disappeared into the page, finding that zone he had been so seeking the last few days, and it wasn't until the display flickered off and he found all four brothers staring at him that he snapped out of it.

A glance at Gordon. "They've left the area, bro. I held them in range as long as I could." Brown eyes were apologetic.

Virgil blinked and looked down at what he had been drawing.

Two whales leapt off the page in front of him, silver and grey graphite shone, caught by the cartridge paper tooth. Tilted in pose, they were turned just slightly towards each other, so obviously parent and child, it touched his heart.

"That's awesome, Virgil!" Alan was all jubilation and eagerness.

A glance at Scott and Virgil found something akin to pride in his eyes. John was smiling. Gordon stood up and walked behind Virgil, peering over his shoulder. "Can I have it? Or a print?"

"Uh..."

Gordon's hand landed on his shoulder. You don't have to answer now. Just know that that is a damn good drawing, bro, and I like it."

Virgil grabbed his arm before he could move away. "How often do you see whales?"

A shrug. "It is late in the season, but we might see a few this time of year. The humpbacks migrate through here. I've certainly seen enough from home."

"They come near Tracy Island?"

Gordon frowned at him. "I thought you were in touch with the world around you, Virg. All that artistic standing in the wind stuff. Of course, they do. I'm taking you whale watching as soon as possible. You don't need to swim to see whales. God, guys, we live on an island in the middle of thousands of miles of ocean. Pay more attention. Yeesh."

Okay, perhaps he had a point. Gordon had always loved the ocean and the worlds beneath it. Scott always loved the sky, John and Alan adored space. Virgil...was about how those worlds worked. Perhaps he needed to pay more attention to the ones underwater. "It appears I need to."

Those familiar brown eyes blinked at him before a hand covered the one Virgil had on his arm. "Hey, I've got an idea." He slipped free of his hold and grabbed his tablet again. "Just need to log into my home server..." The tablet took a royal stabbing with his finger. A moment and he set the device down on the table, poked it a couple more times until it projected up another underwater scene.

Five fully grown humpback whales and two calves frolicked in the holographic water. "There you go. Last year, not two hundred metres from our front door."

Virgil just stared. His fingers itched to capture the scene. He hadn't felt so inspired in months. "C-can you send me a copy?"

Gordon stared at him a moment, something in his eyes. "Sure. Tell you what. I'll copy a bunch of these recordings onto the family server and you can do with them what you like."

He couldn't look away from the whales. "Thank you, Gordon." He needed some colours. Phthalo blue. Payne's grey. Phthalo turquoise. Cadmium yellow and possibly orange to up the contrast. White and maybe some Alizarin Crimson.

"Virgil, you okay?" Scott.

"Huh?" He shot a glance in his brother's direction. Scott was frowning at him. "Uh, yeah. Did you bring any of my paints?"

Scott looked at John and his younger brother answered. "Your travel kit is in your cabin."

"Great! Thank you." He grinned at John and stood up...slowly as his body reminded him he wasn't running at one hundred percent. A step and he hugged a stunned Gordon. "Thank you, Gordon. Thank you."

"Uh, you're welcome?"

Virgil stepped back and grinned at him. Gordon was staring at him as if he'd lost a marble or two. His expression only made Virgil laugh. A pat on his arm and Virgil grabbed his sketchbook and with another grin headed off towards his cabin.

He had it. All he needed was his tablet and a network connection and he had stock to paint to his heart's content.

"Don't you stay up painting all night!" It was Scott, yelling the length of the boat, but it only made Virgil's grin wider.

-o-o-o-

Shit. The idiot was likely to exhaust himself at his easel. He would have to make sure he checked on him later, make sure he was sitting, not standing. Wouldn't help for his brother to exacerbate his injury just because he zombified when painting.

John was staring at him.

"What?"

A soft smile. "Nothing."

Scott eyed him, but John was his usual calm self, refusing to reveal any hint to his thoughts.

Lips thinning, he shot his brother a glare, which was ignored, and turned back to Gordon...only to find the table now covered in what appeared to be densely packed sardines of some kind.

Okay, he'd had enough of fish. He pushed himself to his feet. Gordon didn't notice.

Scott had been hoping to sit down with Virgil and just have a little one on one bro time, but he had to admit that seeing it all come together for his arty brother like that had been pretty amazing and there was no way he was going to deny him the moment.

He would likely emerge from his room sometime tomorrow with a new masterpiece in his hands that Scott would, as usual, be totally stunned and blindsided as to how he managed it. Hell, that whale took all of fifteen minutes and it literally leapt off the page.

Stepping back from the table, he brushed a hand across John's shoulders as he passed behind him and slipped inside. There was a bar in the corner of the lounge. He grabbed the whisky he had bought that morning and poured himself just a smidgen. He didn't want to get drunk. He just wanted something to line his mouth, give him the taste.

Tumbler in hand he made his way through the main cabin and up onto the bow where they had stood for a good part of the voyage earlier in the day.

The sun was only a memory of the far side of the horizon, the sky darkening quickly and the ocean that gently rocked the boat, and no doubt Virgil's easel, was becoming blacker than the sky above it.

The moon hadn't risen yet, but the stars were breaking through the remnant light, and combined with the faint breeze, night was setting in.

Scott let a breath out.

In its own way it was beautiful. He wasn't one for waxing poetic, but the sky was his home. He breathed it in with every breath and out here away from the lights of life, he could almost hear it.

"Makes you think, doesn't it?"

Despite himself, he jumped.

"Woah, big bro, just come up to share a drink with you. Spock and McCoy killed all the rear lights so they can stare at their distant balls of gas and talk the hard sciences." His brother rolled his eyes. "They've obviously never attempted to collect samples from a hydrothermal vent several kilometres down. 'Hard' would be the least of the terms used."

His brother's verbal diarrhoea came to a sudden halt and Scott took the moment to let his shoulders drop.

"You okay?" Gordon looked up at him and Scott realised he had a tumbler in his hand similar to the one in his own.

A half smile. "I'm good." And he returned to looking out at the black hole of an ocean. "Thank you for coming up with this idea." He rolled his shoulders just a little and took another sip of his drink. "I think we all need it."

"Not a problem." Gordon moved up to stand beside him and sipped his own whisky. "Not often I get a chance to get out here for a good stretch of time. I'm enjoying myself."

"I noticed." He twisted his lips. "Hilda?"

Gordon grinned. "My senior year French teacher. The woman was all bite and no bark."

Scott frowned. "Miss Schwank? I thought you liked her?" One handed air quotes. "'I'd like to go all Jacques Cousteau on her.' I think I actually have that in writing somewhere."

Another grin. "I did. She was gorgeous. Blonde with all the right measurements and a tongue that could do all the right things, no matter the language." The smile vanished and he looked down at the tumbler in his hand. "She was one of the Lost in the 2060 Tsunami Disaster. Found her name on the nets." The stars lit his brother's eyes as they looked up at him. "On her honeymoon, apparently."

Scott swallowed. He remembered the vivacious woman, all sharp words and determination. "Sorry to hear that."

Gordon sighed. "So, now we have a great white shark with the same attitude. Just as beautiful, just as determined, just as likely to bite my head off if I go anywhere near her." The grin was back. Another sip and his brother's expression was all fondness.

A smile crept onto Scott's face. He reached up and dropped his hand on his brother's shoulder and squeezed gently. Another taste of whisky and he turned back to stare into the darkness.

-o-o-o-

End Day One


	4. Day Two: Aboard This Tiny Ship - Pt1

Title: We'll be home for Christmas

Day Two – Aboard This Tiny Ship – Part 1

Author: Gumnut

14 Dec 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: The boys can't fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way.

Word count: 3633

Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Minor various ships, mostly background.

Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos we haven't seen it yet.

Author's note: This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic :D I hope you enjoy it.

Many thanks to vegetacide and scribbles97 for cheering me on and their wonderful support through this craziness. And to onereyofstarlight for geeking out with me over the setting.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

Day Two - Aboard this Tiny Ship

It was the bed disappearing under him and then slapping him hard that woke Virgil the next morning.

Ow, shit. He curled up, protecting his abdomen, more in surprise than any serious pain. It took him a few moments to fully awaken and work out where he was. Opening his eyes helped. Sun glared through one of his windows and he blinked, screwing up his face.

When his bed reassured him that it wasn't going to disappear again any time soon by staying solidly attached to him for a good few minutes, he pushed back the covers.

Paper fell off the bed. His hand landed on his tablet and there was a clatter as several somethings hit the floor.

He frowned as he watched his sketchbook slide slowly over the edge and bend half its pages as it crumpled on the carpet.

What the hell?

And then he caught sight of his portable easel.

Oh.

Phthalo turquoise, rainbowed in its many shades, sat in backdrop to Payne's Grey and white and all the tints in between. The mother and calf humpback whales swam at him out of the canvas sheet clamped to the backboard.

A blink. There was paint on his fingers, the bed sheets, and, oh shit, the carpet.

He struggled to sit up, dragging his feet off the side of the bed and onto the floor. His wounds complained at every wrong move and his head spun. Ugh, dehydrated. A pencil fell off the bed and he moved to catch it. He missed.

Damnit, another one ruined.

He rubbed a hand over his face and looked at the canvas again.

It was good. He was very critical of his work, but he knew this was good. A feeling of accomplishment swelled inside.

Just as the boat threw itself into the air for a split second only to come down hard again. Virgil's eyes widened as the easel tilted and, in slow motion, begin to fall.

"No, no, no!" He shot off the bed and grabbed the art support, rescuing it from certain damage.

But he wasn't supposed to be moving fast and everything in his abdomen screamed protest and he found himself frozen in the middle of his floor clutching his easel and unable to move.

Of course, that was when the boat chose to toss him around again.

The whole room shifted and he stumbled, yelped, and, by some miracle, managed to land on his bed, artwork on top of him.

His body, however, again did not approve at all and he let the easel slip to the bed covers, curled up and gave his belly time to reassure itself that it wasn't being ripped apart.

A few breaths and he reached for his shirt on the end of the bed. Fumbling, he activated his collar comms. "Scott, you there?"

Wind roar answered him. "Hey, Virg! You're awake early. You have to come up here, this boat is amazing."

He blinked. "What?"

"She's fast!" As if to emphasise that statement, Virgil's bed bounced him up and down again.

"Ow, shit!"

"Virgil? What's wrong?"

He didn't answer, too busy holding himself together.

Engine noise he hadn't even acknowledged suddenly died off and the boat became its more familiar steady self. He could barely feel the gentle roll.

He let out a breath, drew in another, and when there was no more pain, finally relaxed on the bed. He really could have done without that.

His fingers brushed against canvas.

Hesitantly and wary of any pain, he pushed himself into a sitting position, once again letting his feet slide of the side of the bed to meet the floor.

"Virgil?" His name was accompanied by a knock on his cabin door.

It was at that point he realised he was only wearing his pyjama bottoms. A frown. He had phthalo turquoise in his chest hair.

His cabin door opened and Scott barrelled through, blue eyes immediately latching onto Virgil, assessing his condition, only to be distracted by the mess of the room. "What the hell?"

Gordon burst in behind his brother, followed by a calmer, but concerned John. "Are you okay, Virgil?"

"Uh, yeah." Honestly, was he okay? Nothing was hurting, really, just an echo of the strain remained. "What happened to the boat?" He was almost waiting for the next buck to throw him from the bed, but there was only the barely-there gentle sway. "Did we hit rough seas? Has the weather gone bad?" The sun was still shining through his window.

"No, that was just our hot shot superior pilot attempting to prove that he really isn't." Gordon glared at his elder brother. "Face it, Scott, you just don't have it on the water."

"I have 'it' fine, Gordon."

John was still frowning at Virgil. "Tell that to my fried egg which jumped off my plate and landed on the floor."

"I was just getting a feel for the craft."

"Yeah, well, the craft feels pretty shook up. I'm piloting from now on." Now Gordon was frowning at Virgil. "You sure you're okay? You're pale."

Of course, that set off Scott and Virgil found three frowning pairs of eyes staring at him. Self-consciously he shifted his arm to hide his incisions. Which his eldest brother immediately picked up on and before he could say anything, Scott was kneeling in front of him. "What is it?"

Virgil's lips thinned. "You woke me up." A glance at the clock. Oh god. "Before 7am."

But his brother wasn't having any of it. "Are you in pain?"

"No. I'm fine. You woke me up. We're on vacation and you woke me up." He put everything into a glare.

Gordon snorted. "Scott, you're dead, bro."

"Why is your easel on your bed?" That came from John.

"Uh-"

"Did you fall over?" His eyes cut across the room and interrogated Virgil.

Gordon rounded on Scott. "I told you!" The aquanaut whacked his eldest brother's arm. "When in the hell are you going to listen to me?"

But Scott wasn't paying him any attention. "Are you okay, Virgil?"

Oh, for the love of... "I'm fine! Now will someone either bring me coffee or let me get to the coffee?" Okay, so he was a little concerned about the whole floor tossing him about thing happening again. But then again, Scott wasn't driving anymore.

He pushed himself off the bed, hunching a little to protect himself before mostly straightening and edging past Scott, and Gordon who was still glaring at his eldest brother. He fought the urge to pick up his sketchbook and the spray of cartridge paper on the floor. He wasn't confident that bending over that far with an audience would be the greatest idea.

He met John at the cabin door and withstood his younger brother's enquiring eyes as he made his way past.

"Oh my god, Virg. It's amazing." Virgil turned around like an old man and it annoyed him to no end. Gordon was holding up the painting, still attached to its support. Thank god he had used acrylics. If it had been in oils, it would have ended up all over him, all over the bed and likely totally destroyed.

The stunned expression on his little brother's face did bring a small smile to Virgil's lips. "Thank you. I'm quite happy with it."

"I want it. Can I have it?" That was a very familiar response from Gordon. Anything Virgil painted involving the ocean got that response.

"I'll think about it."

The puppy look that resulted from that had Virgil rolling his eyes. "I said I'll think about it. I might want to keep it myself."

A gentle hand landed on his shoulder. "It's a beautiful piece of work, Virgil." John soft voice had awe in it.

Virgil's eyes widened as he stared at his reserved brother. "Thank you, John."

"But you need to sit down." And his younger brother began to steer him out of the room.

"I'm fine..." But of course, Scott who had been staring at the painting as much as Gordon, shook off his stupor and took Virgil's other side. "Aww, c'mon, I'm not dying. It doesn't even hurt."

"If you think I missed you yelling out in pain earlier, you're dreaming. You are resting on the lounge and we will get you your breakfast." Those blue eyes darted at John and no doubt met agreement. "Gordon, give this cabin a quick tidy, will you."

"Yeah, will do." A glare shot at his eldest brother. "As long as you keep away from the helm."

Scott muttered something Virgil couldn't quite hear.

Despite his protests, his brothers did exactly what they said they would and dragged him out into the lounge and made him lie on the sofa which was fortunately long enough for his height and deep enough for his shoulders to fit comfortably.

Coffee and the accompanying breakfast were served up to him and he was eyed from across the room until he consumed it.

The coffee was lovely and warm and John had out done himself with the eggs. Despite himself and despite the caffeine dose, Virgil found himself lying back down and curling up on the couch and dozing.

Alan crawled out of bed at some point and woke him briefly, but an admonishment from Scott quietened the noise and Virgil let himself drift again, the gentle sounds of the ocean and the boat lulling him to sleep.

-o-o-o-

Gordon was having the time of his life.

The boat was a beauty and under the right hands, eg. not Scott's, she coasted through the water like a dream. It was a whole different thing to be able to open a window and let the ocean breeze tangle in his hair. He loved the water with his entire soul, but safety and necessity in his job often kept a buffer between her and him, either wetsuit or marine acrylic. It was so freeing to be able to spend some time out in the open on the water indulging in speed. There would be some snorkelling, maybe even a little diving on this trip. There was no way he was letting this opportunity pass.

The only blip in his excitement was his second eldest brother. The man was healing. He was getting better, but he obviously wasn't himself. Virgil slept on the couch in the main living area for the rest of the morning. Each of the brothers found themselves occupations elsewhere on the boat, though Gordon did note that Scott made a point of checking on the sleeping engineer multiple times. John wandered through approximately every forty-five minutes. Even Alan checked up on Virgil from time to time. The youngest was caught up in some video game battle with John that involved some extensive swearing about half an hour ago on Alan's part and a whole pile of laughter on John's part.

Gordon grinned. He obviously wasn't the only one having a great time.

He had to admit that having all of his brothers together in the one space and not being required to work was simply amazing. So often it was not quite all of them, one missing for some reason or other, usually John.

And yes, he realised that it was a little different for five grown brothers to not only work together, but to inhabit the same space. With the exception of himself, and yes, he did blush a little and smile at the thought, none of them had any associations that might lead to future partners. Though come to think of it, John had been hanging around that chick from Global One a lot.

He frowned. Virgil and Tin had been spending a lot of time together, too. Hmm, he may need to poke a bear and a spaceman for intel at some point, even if it was just to see them squirm.

Actually, yeah, that sounded like some great evening entertainment.

Scott, well...and that thought sobered him up. Scott put far too much of himself into International Rescue, Tracy Industries and their family to have anything left. Hell, the man was the one floundering out here on the ocean. With Virgil operating in less than optimal condition, Scott monitoring had fallen to John and Gordon. Neither of them managed the task as well as Virgil, but they did their best.

Their eldest brother was at a loss. John had acquired the man's phone, likely under Grandma's orders, and hidden it. The only reason there hadn't been yelling between the two brothers was the fact that Virgil had been asleep on the couch nearby at the time. As it was, it was surprising Scott's glare hadn't sunk the boat.

There was nowhere to run on the ship and while it was a luxury yacht, Gordon hadn't bothered to include any kind of gym equipment, there hadn't been time. So, his eldest brother was denied his stress relief.

Gordon had given the man the helm this morning for that exact reason. If he had known he would push her to full throttle like that, he wouldn't have. Even he could see shaking Virgil around hadn't been a good idea. Having had his own share of injuries in his short life, Gordon could easily empathise. Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any damage done other than Virgil passing out on the couch for half the day and that was more usual Virg than anything else.

The yacht was decked out in all the top technologies. Of course, she was no Thunderbird, but her scanning equipment was excellent for a leisure vehicle, and Gordon had hotwired a few extra IR sensors into her array. So, the image he received of L'Esperance Rock was clear as a bell long before it appeared on the horizon.

The weather was to die for. He couldn't have asked for a flatter, smoother ride. It was something he had made sure of before he even bought the boat. The trip wouldn't have been viable if he had put his second eldest brother through a storm or even mildly rough seas. But the weather net had forecast stunning days leading up to Christmas for the entire period he planned to have them on the water and hopefully it would stay that way.

If he managed to keep Scott away from the helm.

Another sigh. A course check, a handful of calculations in his head. They would make it to Macauley by about the middle of the afternoon, give or take a dawdle around Curtis and Cheeseman Islands. It was so tempting to stop at each and check them out. It had been a while since he had been down here.

GeoNet reported that Curtis was quiet at the moment, fortunately. He had no wish to take on a volcano without a Thunderbird to back him up.

But, yes, Macauley would enable him to get Scott off the boat. The man could climb a few rocks and burn off his agitation. They could camp on the beach for dinner. It would almost be like being at home.

He grinned. Yes, set the yacht at anchor and take the inflatable into shore. He ran landing locations through his head. He might even have an opportunity to dive off Macauley.

Come to think of it...he hit the general comms line.

"A Little Lightning to Raoul Base. Mel, you got your ears on?"

It took a moment, but then a familiar voice bounced in over the water. "Thunderfish? Is that you? Whatcha doin' all the way down there?" A pause. "And what the hell are you floating? You bein' a billionaire or somethin'?"

"Hey, can't I have a little vacation?"

"You? Vacated in the head maybe, but sitting on your butt? I find that hard to believe. You're not sick, are you?" Actual concern crept into her voice. "You said you'd recovered from that crash."

"I'm fine, Mel. Keep your hat on. It's my brother who is a little under the weather this time. Couldn't fly home, so we're boating it and having a little vacation along the way."

"Your brother? Which one?" Okay, so she was still concerned. Mel was a long-time friend. Since they had moved to Tracy Island, Raoul Island was their closest neighbour and both the northern-most and largest of the group. Mel was the director of the team stationed on the island by the New Zealand Department of Conservation and she oversaw all the research conducted on and around the Kermadec Islands.

"Virgil. A little appendicitis. He's fine. Just a couple of extra scars and there is a little less of him than there used to be."

"Aww, send him my best. And let me know if he needs a little nursin'. A girl can get lonely out here." Gordon rolled his eyes. She had been flinging similar hopeful remarks about Virgil in his direction ever since his brother had airlifted her and her team off Raoul last time their resident volcano had twitched. It had been useful fodder to stir his brother with, but Virgil being the genuine and caring soul that he was, had clapped Gordon around the ear and threatened to tell Mel about Gordon's underwear collection and the special prints he ordered in the mail.

Brothers played dirty.

But then Tin glared at Gordon enough to scorch his hair off.

So not going there.

"You? Lonely? Did the Kiwi Postal Service have to send out a special delivery this year for your fanmail?"

"Christmas cards from friends, you dorkus. You can talk. Pen says you got sixteen bunches of preserved roses from hopefuls last year."

He frowned. "Pen? When did you speak to Penny?"

"Hey, I have to find out how you're doin' somehow. S'not like I can just boat over to your super secret island, is it?"

"Okay, you have a point. Though I must say, you and Penny is a combination that never occurred to me." Probably because it was downright terrifying. Mel was more pirate than lady. You were more likely to find her in waders than heels, and her mind was a little more obsessed with these islands than was probably healthy or conducive to general conversation.

"She's nice. You've done good, Thunderfish."

"Thank you for your approval."

"So, you're on vacation in my isles. You watch yourself. No trashing anything. You tell your brothers to keep their rockets off my turf."

"We know, Mel. Though you didn't seem to mind when Virg parked his 'bird on your doorstep. Not to mention that time I took your instrumentation down in Four, and then there-"

"Okay, okay, you are both useful and gorgeous, I get it. Just be careful, okay. It has taken years to revegetate and restore this area. If you weren't you, I'd send the coast guard out to kick your asses out of the zone."

"Yeah, yeah, we've had this discussion before, Mel. I have no quarantinable cargo, it has all been inspected, we won't litter, we won't take shellfish, we won't step on birds' nests, we won't chop firewood, we won't even look under rocks for crabs. However, I was going to ask if there was anything on Macauley you would like me to check out while I'm there. I was thinking of landing for a brief respite. Scott needs a break."

"You've got the Commander on board that little dingy?"

"Aye."

"I thought you said putting that man on a boat was equal to transporting dangerous cargo. Cargo that bites."

"It is. Hence the stop at Macauley. Any teams down there at the moment?"

"No, most of them have gone home for Christmas."

"Why haven't you?"

"I am home, Thunderfish. What the hell kinda stupid ass question was that?"

Okay, touchy subject.

"No need to rip my head off. Just offering you a hand if you need one. We'll make Macauley by late afternoon. I'm keeping the speed down a little. Is there anything you would like me to look into while I'm there? I might have a couple of hours to play with."

"Gimme a sec." A moment. "Hmm, it's a shame you don't have your little yellow submarine with you. One of the sensors in the Macauley caldera has gone offline. Burke is gonna be pissed."

"Burke is always pissed. She needs to get a life."

"She's got one. Got together with one of the scientists from Tokyo a few months back. Been a hot topic ever since. Gone to Japan for the holidays."

"Good for her."

"Crap for me as I'm now short an aquanaut over said holidays."

"I can't guarantee anything, but I'll see what I can do. Hell, might even drop back after Christmas. Visiting these waters has reminded me of several reasons why I became an aquanaut in the first place."

"Ooh, if only I could lure you here permanently. You and your Thunderbird."

Gordon snorted. "You're in my retirement plan, Mel."

"Yeah, right."

"You want me to check any of the landward or shallow water sensors?"

"Nah, they're all good. Do you have your sensor buoy with you? Any indepth readings would be lovely."

"Already started spot analysis. I'll send you last night's data. Caught a great shot of a humpback and her calf. Full details recorded. They were both untagged, but we ran into Hilda."

"All the way down there? Great, anything you can send me would be fabulous."

"FAB." He grinned.

"Exactly, smart ass. You look after yourself out there. I hear International Rescue is on vacation, which means you get into trouble, it will be my ass that gets yanked out of bed. I value my sleep."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Keep that in mind. Raoul out."

He had to grin.

-o-o-o-

End Day Two, Part One


	5. Day Two: Aboard This Tiny Ship - Pt2

Title: We'll be home for Christmas

Day Two – Aboard This Tiny Ship – Part 2

Author: Gumnut

14 - 18 Dec 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: The boys can't fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way.

Word count: 2576

Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Minor various ships, mostly background.

Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos we haven't seen it yet.

Author's note: For scattergraph. This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic :D I hope you enjoy it.

This section is a touch shorter than the last one, but the next section will be much bigger.

Many thanks to vegetacide and scribbles97 for cheering me on and their wonderful support through this craziness. And to onereyofstarlight for geeking out with me over the setting.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

Scott was ready to chew an arm off just to entertain himself by the time Gordon announced they were approaching L'Esperance Rock just after lunch. He'd seen it enough from the air to know it meant they were around halfway home. The thought did give him some relief and he stood at the bow of the boat watching the islet come into view.

A grunt behind him had him turning to find Virgil making his way forward, coffee in one hand, abdomen in the other. He darted in to help his brother up the steps.

"I'm okay."

"I know you are. Just being useful."

That earned him a stare and an arched eyebrow. "You're bored shitless, aren't you." It wasn't a question.

"I'm okay."

Virgil snorted. "I had a bet with John you'd last until tonight at least. You've shafted me fifty bucks, big brother."

Scott grunted. "Well, that explains why he was so happy to steal my phone."

"He stole your phone?" Brown eyes frowned up at him.

"Oh, yes. On Grandma's orders apparently."

"That's cheating."

"Heh, that's between the two of you. I'm only the subject of the bet, not the umpire."

"Null and void. He's not getting a cent."

Scott grinned as he held his brother's elbow, surprised he hadn't been shook off.

"It is beautiful, isn't it?" Virgil's voice was wistful as they approached the railing. "Sometimes I think we get too busy or just take it all for granted. We do live in a stunning corner of the planet."

"Dad always thought so. I wouldn't have called him much of an environmentalist, but he knew what was important."

"Hmm, I think you underestimate him. You were off the Island when Alan brought two rats home as pets."

"He did what?!"

Another arched eyebrow. "Yes, he did, early on. Snuck them in. Dad went ballistic when he found out. The words he used had Grandma blushing. Let's just say that Beau and Belle were deported rather abruptly and Alan now has an unofficial degree in environmental management."

"Hmph, serves him right."

Virgil smiled at him. "Sounds like you might be a bit of an environmentalist yourself."

A tolerant glare at his brother. "I do what is necessary."

Scott was surprised when Virgil's response to that statement was a sigh. His brother's expression was almost sad.

"What?"

"You need to relax."

"I am relaxing."

"No, you're not. You're wired tighter than Two's primary generator. You need to find a way to wind down. We're on vacation."

"We're on mandatory lockdown."

"Grandma is right. We need a break. Preferably before we break something we can't repair."

"It's not just about us!"

"Yes, it is! You need to let go! Focus on you for a change."

"Dad-"

"Is not here! You have the right to a life, Scott. You have the right to look after yourself, to have a little fun, for god's sake. When was the last time you read a fiction book? Flew a kite? Sat in front of the projector and binge watched an old television show?"

"There are more important things-"

"Importance is relative. It was you who blew my head off a matter of days ago about priorities, was it not? Our business forces us to prioritise according to lives at risk, I get it. I know it. I live it beside you. But you are my big brother, you are the leader of this team, your health affects our effectiveness. To put it harshly, some may die today, so many more can be saved in the future." Virgil visibly swallowed. "I know International Rescue is important, but please, take the time, Scott. If you have to, do it for IR, do it for us or me or whatever gets you going, but most of all please do it for yourself." Quietly. "I can't lose you."

What the hell? "You're not going to lose me."

"If you don't look after yourself, we will!" He didn't think it was physically possible for his brother to frown harder.

"If you don't look after yourself, you're going to blow your stitches."

"This isn't about me, it's about you!"

"So, what are you thinking? Yell at me until I crack? I'm not finding this relaxing at all, Virg."

"Well, it seems I need volume for you to actually hear me, because you certainly don't listen otherwise."

He couldn't think of an immediate retort to that and to be honest he was worried Virgil was going hurt himself if he wasn't careful, he appeared so uncharacteristically angry. "You're that worried?"

"Of course, I'm fucking worried!"

Whoops, wrong thing to say.

"Virgil! Calm down. You're the one who needs to relax." He reached out and placed his hands on his brother's shoulders. "Take a breath."

To his surprise, Virgil was actually trembling a little. He was that passionate about this? He hadn't been doing that badly, had he?

His brother did as requested and took a deep breath. "You are so hard to look after sometimes." It was breathy and full of exhaled tension.

"You don't have to look after me, Virg."

"Somebody has to." He looked up and brown eyes caught his. "Because you don't."

Ah, shit. A sigh and Scott gently drew his brother into a hug. "Okay, I'm sorry, I'll try to do better."

His brother didn't answer, but he did lean in a little, one big hand reaching around Scott's back and returning the embrace. "Please try."

"Okay."

Virgil pulled away slowly, not looking up at his brother, but focussing on the coffee he held in his other hand. He brought it to his lips and turned away slightly.

Scott stared at the back of his brother's head and frowned.

The boat slowed as they approached the Rock. As jagged as its distant cousin, the Rock was like a miniature version of their home, the very top of a huge undersea volcano.

"Are we stopping here?"

Virgil's question echoed his own thoughts. He thumbed his comms. "Gordon, are we stopping here?"

"Only for a moment. Just grabbing a sensor snapshot for Mel."

Melissa Fisher, their closest neighbour. Blonde and sharp, she would remind him of Penny if it wasn't for her obsession with all things Kermadec. That and the twigs in her hair. Even Dad had been a little wary of stepping on anything living when visiting Raoul Island. And visit they had. They needed to keep up relations and the woman was a mine of information when it came to ecological stabilisation and rehabilitation. Tracy Island had its issues when his father bought it and ever aware of the ecological importance of the area, once Brains had built the necessary infrastructure, his father had attempted to re-stabilise the ecosystem.

Melissa had been very helpful.

Gordon had taken to her immediately, jabbering in biology terms. For a bit there, Scott had wondered if the two of them might get involved with a different kind of biology, she was a little older than Gordon, only a year younger than Scott, but that might just float his brother's boat. But apparently, they were too distracted by what they were discussing to notice each other.

Scott hadn't seen her in years.

The boat came to a complete stop not far from the Rock and a moment later, Gordon appeared on the starboard side and threw out his sensor buoy.

Virgil was staring at him.

Scott blinked. "What is it?"

His brother didn't answer immediately, those dark eyes assessing him a moment longer before sipping his coffee. But then a decision flickered across his expression and his hand reached out and gently took Scott's arm. "Come with me."

His brother turned slowly and led him off the bow. He negotiated the stairs and walked Scott back into the living area where Gordon was once again staring at holographic fish.

"Sit down and wait a moment." His brother disappeared off into the depths of the living quarters."

"Yes!"

Gordon's jubilant yell made Scott jump. What?

His little brother was staring at a huge fish. A huge and weird looking fish. "What is that?"

"That, my wonderful big brother, is a sunfish or Mola mola, to be more specific."

"And that is?"

Gordon glanced at him and frowned. "Heaviest bony fish on the planet. Came close to extinction twenty years ago. Saved by the World Council and its endangered species bill in 2039." He turned back to the holographic display. "Though this one appears to have had some challenges." Gordon's fingers traced some gouges on the fish's flank. "Old, but nasty."

"Shark?"

His brother snorted. "No. That's net scar. It's been caught in a fishing net at some point. I can't see any trace of the net, so this has to be one of the lucky ones." The giant fish drifted lazily across the table as Gordon grabbed his tablet and stabbed his finger into it several times. "It must be well travelled. We are quite a distance from the fishing zones here."

"I thought I told you to sit down." Virgil edged carefully back into the room carrying his keyboard.

"And I thought you weren't supposed to be lifting anything." Scott hurried over and took the instrument from his brother's hands.

"It's not heavy."

"So I have to look after myself, yet you don't?"

Virgil's shoulders dropped. "Okay, okay. Give me a second." His brother grabbed a couple of cushions and shoved them together on a lounge chair to support his back and lowered himself into it. "Put it here." He gestured across the arms of the chair and his lap.

Wary, Scott put the keyboard, that, yes, actually was quite heavy, down where his brother told him too. "Be careful."

Virgil frowned up him with an expression that plainly said, 'What am I? Stupid?'

"Well, you did carry the keyboard out here, did you not?"

His brother muttered something Scott couldn't quite hear and wasn't sure he wanted to.

"Now, you sit down and close your eyes." A pause. "No, actually, lie down on the couch and close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Just do as I ask."

Scott rolled his eyes, but lay down. "You didn't used to be this bossy."

"You didn't used to be this stubborn. Call it evolution in trying times."

"Smart ass."

"Shut up and close your eyes."

Scott muttered under his breath, wriggled where he lay and did as his brother told him. Anything to stop the man from freaking out.

His brother began to play, the keys soft and blending with the water lapping against the hull. With his eyes closed, his mind focussed on the sounds around him. Gordon's fingers on his tablet, heard just under the music. The distant calls of seabirds. Actually, it wasn't much of a step from the sounds of home. Virgil playing his piano. Gordon sitting on the lounge playing with his tablet. The balcony doors open to the breeze, the distant sound of the waves on Tracy Island rock, the distant call of the bird colony on Mateo. John would be in his room reading. Alan would be playing a video game in the kitchen while Grandma attempted to make dinner. Brains, as always, would be in his lab.

Virgil playing the piano.

Waves against the rocks.

Birds calling...

Home.

-o-o-o-

Virgil kept playing ever so softly. Gordon had stopped working and was staring at the two of them, frowning.

Scott started snoring.

Gordon's eyes widened and he mouthed words at Virgil. 'How do you do that?'

Virgil just smiled and kept on playing, drifting into a long, gentle piece his mother had taught him long ago.

At some point he closed his eyes, too, and let himself go with the music, let his fingers do what the music asked.

He woke to find both Scott and John sitting opposite him.

"That was dirty pool, Virg."

He blinked. Someone had taken the keyboard away and shoved a few extra pillows into the chair to support him. "You knew what I was doing. I'm just your excuse. How long did you last?"

It was John who spoke up. "About twenty minutes. It was enough. Gordon had to get the boat moving. He woke up the moment the engine started."

"You, on the other hand, have been out for over two hours." Scott was smug. "You missed the active volcano."

Virgil turned to John. "Anything worth looking at?"

His younger brother shrugged. "Looked like an island to me. Bigger than the Rock. No activity at the moment."

Virgil turned back to Scott. "Sounds like I didn't miss anything. Where are we now?"

"Anchored at Macauley Island." Gordon strode across the room. "Hey, Virg. Good to see you awake. You might like to see this." His fish brother's grin was highly suspicious.

It took both Scott and John to get him out of the chair. He should not sleep sitting up with abdominal incisions. Ow.

For a moment there he thought Scott was going to send him to bed or demand he take painkillers, but he didn't. His brother didn't say anything, and even if he did, a familiar roar distracted Virgil enough that he wouldn't have noticed if his brother said anything anyway.

He pushed himself forward, leaving his helping hands behind and stepped out onto the deck.

His beautiful 'bird was roaring in from the north. She moved so fast, he blinked and she was coming to a halt some distance away, VTOL firing her into a hover.

He just stared as she dropped her module.

He blinked as Gordon and Alan suddenly started the engine of an inflatable dingy and tore off towards the module sporting its proud number four.

"Thunderbird Two to Virgil." Kayo's voice startled him out of his stare. "So how did I do? Score out of ten."

The door to the module lowered and Gordon leapt out of the little boat and jumped on board.

"Oh, ten, I guess."

"Ten?!" Gordon's outrage yelped across comms as the aquanaut turned in the distance and put both hands on his hips. "I knew he liked you more than me. I haven't managed anything higher than an eight and I've been trying for years!"

Kayo didn't answer as his 'bird turned and took off for home, but Virgil grinned. "Keeps you on your toes, bro."

"You suck."

Their sister snorted across comms as Alan turned the dingy around and headed back. Gordon glared a glare that made it across the ocean despite the distance and stormed off into the module.

Virgil's grin just got wider. "Why did he call for Four?"

"Something about helping Melissa. A sensor malfunction in the Macauley caldera." A glance at Scott found him grinning, too. "You know he's not going to let that go, don't you?"

"Yep."

"We're stuck on a boat, captained by him, in the middle of the ocean and you want to set Gordon off?"

Virgil shrugged. "He'll enjoy it."

"We won't."

"We'll live."

"If I wake up with pink hair, you're dead."

"I love you, too." Virgil was still grinning.

"You do know that you still have your comms on, don't you?" His aquanaut brother's voice was admittedly amused.

"Yes, Gordon, I do. Got some good ideas?"

"I guess you'll have to wait and see." And with that, Four's rear thrusters fired and she shot out of the module and into the ocean.

"You got your uniform on?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Fly safe."

"FAB."

-o-o-o-

End Day Two, Part Two


	6. Day Two: Aboard This Tiny Ship - Pt3

Title: We'll be home for Christmas

Day Two – Aboard This Tiny Ship – Part 3

Author: Gumnut

18 - 23 Dec 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: The boys can't fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way.

Word count: 4029

Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Minor various ships, mostly background.

Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos we haven't seen it yet.

Author's note: For scattergraph. This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic :D I hope you enjoy it.

Mentions of ship in this bit, but only in discussion. There may be more later (that I haven't written yet :D)

Many thanks to vegetacide and scribbles97 for cheering me on and their wonderful support through this craziness. And to onereyofstarlight for geeking out with me over the setting.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

Gordon told him it was unnecessary, but John didn't agree. He had a brother deployed, it was his job to keep an eye on him. Besides, he hadn't spoken to Eos for nearly twenty-four hours.

He sat down at the same table Gordon had been using for his fish studies. "Eos, can you relay Gordon's mission stats down to my tablet? Also, I need seismic readings, wildlife mapping and all the latest observational data for the volcanics around the caldera."

"Hello, John."

"Hello, Eos. How are you?"

"Functional." A pause. "A bit bored."

Oh no. "What have you been doing?"

"Nothing."

"Eos!"

"You should have seen them. They were so poor. They were almost starving."

"What did you do?"

"I saved them."

"How?"

"They won the lottery."

"You rigged a lottery? How? They are all manual."

"I have my ways."

"Who did you bribe?"

"I didn't bribe anyone."

"Who did you blackmail?"

"Honestly, he wasn't a very nice man anyway."

John closed his eyes. Thank god Scott was on the other side of the boat helping Alan load up the dingy.

Virgil sat on the lounge opposite staring at him.

"Eos doesn't like injustice very much."

His brother arched an eyebrow.

"Eos, we will discuss this later. Deploy the mission to my tablet. Oh, and can you move Gordon's sensor buoy into range so we can sharpen our reception. Thank you."

Virgil's eyebrow was still arched.

"You know if you leave it that way long enough, the wind will change and you will become permanently half Vulcan."

His brother ignored him. "We will discuss this later, John. Scott hears about it and the shit will hit the fan."

"Yes, I know." Scott would likely always be sensitive where Eos was concerned. John had to tread lightly.

Turning to his tablet, he brought up the sensor relay from the buoy and propelled it to one side of the table. Gordon's vitals, followed by Four's telemetry were deployed to another corner, followed by a submarine map of the area.

"What is that?"

John jumped as Virgil sat down beside him and pointed at the map. "Is that the caldera?"

"Yes." John swiped at his tablet and brought up the necessary information. "The island itself is only a fragment of the volcano."

"That's considerably bigger than our caldera. When did it last erupt?"

"It's still active."

"What?! We just sent Gordon down there."

John stared at Virgil and wondered if his brother had been taking painkillers and was loopy as a result. "Gordon knows what he is doing."

Virgil ran a hand over his face and sighed. "Yeah, I know. Just with his accident..."

"He'll be fine. We are just looking at hydrothermal vents in this case. There is no lava field down there. It shouldn't take much time to replace the sensor as long as he doesn't get distracted."

"Distracted? Gordon?"

"Hmmm, yeah. You have a point."

-o-o-o-

Gordon was in heaven.

Well, if heaven had this many starfish and in Gordon's book, it definitely did. Clustered around the heat generating hydrothermal vents, the patches and swarms of specialised life down here were amazing to see. He had read several studies on the ecosystems of the Kermadec chain, but it was always a wonder to see them thriving like this in the darkness.

The caldera was massive. He knew the geological history of the Kermadec chain. They all did as Tracy Island was technically part of it. He knew it had a habit of exploding quite regularly and this caldera was no different, various child cones spewing forth hydrothermal concoctions. It had last blown up quite spectacularly over 6000 years ago, collapsing what used to be a much larger island into this undersea ring of vents.

The heat supported scores of mussels, farmed by starfish and the occasional white crab. He had done a lot of diving around Tracy Island, but that underseascape was considerably different. Higher water temperatures and a dead volcano produced a different ecosystem to what Macauley supported.

Four's spots lit up the underwater mountain range, volcanic remnants were scattered across the sea floor. The sensor bank was closest to one of the dominant cones to the north-west of the island, placed there specifically to monitor the active spot. The moment he approached it, he knew exactly what the problem was.

"Thunderbird Four to Raoul."

"Raoul receiving. Thunderfish, did you get your 'bird out just for me? I thought you were on vacation."

"Eh, I owe you one." If he was honest, coasting about the waterline for a couple days without the facility to drop below it at will had left him a little longing for the depths. "I found your sensor problem."

"Yeah, what do we have?"

"A brand new baby hydrothermal vent right on top of the sensor bank"

"Again? That's the third this year."

Gordon frowned. "This happens a lot?"

"You bet your ass it does. This whole bloody volcanic chain does what it bloody wants. Hell, Giggenbach just a little north-west of Macauley threw a fit just last year and dumped a pile of rubble on all our sensor equipment. I'm lucky Tracy Industries continues to provide me with new supplies or I would have had to close up shop years ago. The Kermadecs eat sensors for breakfast."

"So, what did you want me to do?"

"You got one of those temporary seismic monitors?"

"Not on Four, but Two stocks vibration sensors."

"Sensitive enough to catch a below 0.0001?"

"I'll send you the specs. Virgil would be the one to confirm."

"Really?"

"Be kind to him, Mel. He's not at his best."

"Would I do anything to hurt such a gorgeous man?"

"Mel."

"Okay, okay, I'll talk nice to the dark-haired hunk."

"Mel."

"What?"

-o-o-o-

Alan eyed Virgil as he made his way down the side of the yacht, one arm clutched to his belly. He hated it when his older brothers were injured. It always shook his foundations.

Sure, Alan was an adult, he could handle it, but his eldest brothers had pretty much been his parents for half his life and seeing one them taken down by a medical condition, even one as paltry as appendicitis, struck a nerve.

It didn't help that Gordon had been so sick, so injured, so recently. To only just have him back in the air and for Virgil to fall out of the sky like that.

It was scary.

"Alan, you okay?"

Scott was standing in the little inflatable dingy, waiting for Alan to hand him the heat cube equipment. The plan was to have a 'bonfire' dinner on the beach without the actual bonfire. Gordon's description of what the Director at Raoul would do to them if they lit a fire on one of her islands was graphic and to the point. So, heat cube it was.

The marshmallows never quite tasted the same.

He shrugged. "Should Virgil be doing that?"

His eldest brother glanced over to where Virgil was making his way in their direction. "As long as he isn't over doing it, he should be okay." Scott stared up at him. "He's going to be fine, Alan."

Alan grimaced and turned back to watching Virgil slowly approach. He could still hear his brother groaning on that hover stretcher as Gordon maxed out Two's engines to get them across the Tasman Sea.

A hand touched his arm and he jumped a little. Scott was back on the yacht beside him, earnest blue eyes trying to pin him down. "He is going to be fine."

Alan sighed. "I know. I guess he just scared me." A swallow. "For a second there, all I could think was that Virg was going to be as sick as Gords, or worse, and it...it terrified me."

An arm wrapped around his shoulders and Alan suddenly felt twelve again, big brother Scott ever looking after him. "He scared all of us, but he is recovering. A couple of weeks and he'll be back on Two nagging Gordon, a month and you won't even know he was ill.

"It could have been worse."

"It wasn't." Scott squeezed his shoulder and as Virgil finally made it the last few steps into hearing range, challenged the convalescent. "And what do you think you are doing out here?"

"Just checking out what you two are up to." Virgil leant on the railing.

"We are preparing a feast for your senses, little brother, and you are not lifting a finger. Alan and I will be your heavy lifters for this dining experience."

Virgil grunted at his brother.

Alan grinned, hiding his thoughts. "Hey, bro, take the opportunity for what it is and just sit back and relax."

A lopsided half smile and a mumbled, "Not sure I know how to do that." Virgil leant both of his elbows on the railing and stared up at the island cliffs looming over them. Alan had to admit, for a tiny chunk of volcano, it was pretty damn big.

"You could always ask Alan for some instruction." Scott was grinning.

"Hey!" But the twinkle in his brother's eyes made it clear it was all in jest. "Just because I find efficiencies in everything I do."

And it was Virgil's turn to grin and reach out to wrap an arm around his shoulders.

Sometimes being the youngest of five had its challenges. Over protective and mother-henning older brothers was one of them. Half the challenge was working out whether he should accept the gestures or stand more securely on his own two feet.

Considering they were isolated, in the middle of nowhere and his brother had recently scared the shit out of him, he was inclined to accept any and all reassurances.

"You okay, Alan?" Dark eyes and brows were peering at him. Oh, for the love of...

He shouldered off Virgil's arm and grabbed the heat cube equipment. "Are we packing this before or after sunset?"

Scott rolled his eyes and stepped back into the dingy while Virgil frowned at Alan even more." I'm fine, Virgil. You're the one who has the holes in his gut."

"I'm fine." It was automatic and defensive.

Scott snorted as Alan handed him a crate.

Hmm, maybe he wasn't the only one being mother-henned.

-o-o-o-

As afternoon waned and evening moved in, the sun lit up the west side of the island in sharp white gold, riddled with the emerald green of recovering forest. The huge cliffs that ringed the volcanic remnant were a stark mixture of pale tephra and black basalt, an echo of a volcano that had had many moods in its relatively short life.

It was a dramatic background to their rather everyday activities.

Gordon surfaced with little fuss. Mel contacted Virgil and he arranged for Kayo to bring some vibration sensors when she came back to collect Four. Gordon was stunned to discover Virgil addressed her as Ms Fisher. What the hell?

"What century were you born in, Virg?"

His brother shrugged. "Never hurts to be polite."

Gordon stared until Virgil glared at him. "What?"

"Nothing."

Another brown-eyed stab and his brother turned his back on him.

Some smart targeting with Two's forward cannon and several of the temporary devices were deployed at the foot of the volcanic cone around five hundred metres underwater. Gordon dipped down to check their placement, John looped Mel into their feed via Five and the job was considered complete. Tin picked up Four and with a cheery farewell to her brothers, flew back to Tracy Island.

Gordon did note that Virgil stood staring after his vanished 'bird a lot longer than necessary. He wasn't sure which his brother was missing more, Two or her temporary pilot.

He stepped up to the rocks beside his brother. "Hey, she'll take care of her."

"I know."

"Tin knows far more than she ever lets on."

"I know."

Gordon placed a hand on his shoulder and stuck a kebab stick with a white blob on one end in front of him. "Want a toasted marshmallow?"

Virgil looked at it and then at Gordon. "It appears to be missing the toasted part."

Gordon grinned. "Then I guess you better get cooking."

His brother rolled his eyes, but it appeared to snap him out of his moroseness, which had been the plan.

"Gimme that." Virgil grabbed the marshmallow on its stick and stalked back to the little camp set up on the island's excuse for a beach.

He used the term 'beach' very broadly, if you could consider a mixture of powdered pumice and basalt dumped like frosting on tumbled rocks, some of which were damn sharp, a 'beach'.

It had taken both Scott and John to help Virgil first into the inflatable dingy and then onto the rocks and across to the 'sand'. There were at least two moments where Gordon could see his eldest brother regretting the decision to let Virgil off the yacht. But a determined glare from that brother coupled with at least one whispered profane word appeared to stop Scott from saying anything.

Virgil did sit down in a camp chair and stay that way for some time after that so it was fairly obvious it had hurt.

When Two returned, Gordon found himself caught up with the sensor deployment. The only reason he had been on the beach when the green behemoth finally left was because Tin had delayed her departure to speak to Virgil.

He hadn't heard what they said to each other, but Virgil was unusually quiet when he returned to the circle with Gordon.

The heat cube was set to cook and Alan had some bacon and eggs sizzling in one pan and Scott was keeping an eye on some pancake batter in another. His eldest brother handed Virgil a soda and the engineer found his seat again, lowering himself slowly into it. Gordon didn't miss the frustrated exhale.

John even had some fries cooking in a camp quick-oven. All-in-all a decent feast on the rocky beach was almost ready.

The next fifteen minutes or so were spent consuming said food.

"These pancakes are fantastic, Scott." It was muffled and muttered around one of those pancakes, but Gordon meant every word of it.

"So they should be. Dad's recipe."

"Legendary." Virgil's voice was equally muffled by another pancake.

"Toasted marshmallows and chocolate mud-cake with cream for dessert." Alan was grinning. "We packed the best."

"Oh, god, thank you." Virgil was always one to appreciate good food.

"Don't choke yourself, bro. There is plenty to go around."

"Yes, thank you, guys, so much."

"Stop talking with your mouth full." But Scott was grinning like a loon.

Virgil grinned back at him with pancake stuck in his teeth.

Gordon snorted, Alan laughed out loud, and John smiled.

"I would like to raise a toast." Virgil grabbed his can of soda and held it up and all four brothers scrambled for their own drinks. "To Gordon! For having one of the best ideas ever!" There was a resounding yell of agreement, but Virgil raised his drink again. "Also, to all my brothers for making it happen. I couldn't ask for a better family than the one I have. I am truly blessed. Thank you, guys, for everything you have done." And the big dope was all seriousness and, god, was he getting teary? What the hell had Tin said to him?

Every can, cup and glass around the heat cube was lifted, but Gordon stood up so he was taller than everyone for once in his life. "To the Tracy brothers!"

"Hear, hear!" It was shouted and cheered.

Virgil smiled up at him and caught Gordon's eyes as he drank.

Alan broke the tableau.

"Who want's mud-cake?!"

-o-o-o-

It was a very satisfied group of brothers who watched the sun dip below the horizon sometime later. The cube temperature had been lowered, but not entirely extinguished. They weren't in tropical latitudes yet and although the days were warm, the nights got chilly. The sea breeze was gentle and the ocean only mumbled against the rocks.

Virgil had slipped into bit of a stupor, his body determined to digest and removing resources from his brain to do it. Consequently, he missed the beginning of the conversation between his brothers while he stared after the disappearing sun.

"So how long has this been going on?"

"It is just a bit of friendly recreation, Alan."

A Gordon snort. "Yeah, John, but how friendly and what kind of recreation?"

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Gordon."

"I'm only following yours, spacebro."

"There is nothing untoward occurring between Captain O'Bannon and myself."

"Ooh, 'untoward' no, but there are two lonely space souls stuck up there together, none other than each other's company."

This time it was Scott's snort. "Oh, only the resident AI who sees and hears all, and about twenty-odd GDF specialists."

"Oh, yes, Eos!" Virgil arched an eyebrow as he realised his fishbrother was tapping his collar comms. "Hey, Eos, are you willing to share the goss on your Dad and Captain Ridley O'Bannon."

"Hello, Gordon. What would you like to know?"

"Does John have a 'thing' for the girl next door?"

"Most definitely."

"Eos!" John shot up ramrod straight in his seat as Gordon cracked up laughing.

"It is true, John. You have sixteen processors, four electronic clipboards and twenty-three bottles of moisturiser set aside for Captain O'Bannon. These are all things you have for the girl next door."

Virgil couldn't help himself and had to smother a laugh.

The expression on Gordon's face was a mixture of confusion and incredulity. "Twenty-three bottles of moisturiser?"

"It is her favourite brand and she was unable to purchase it before beginning her last rotation, so I acquired some for her." He glared at his aquanaut brother. "Just like friends do."

"But twenty-three bottles?" Even Scott was staring at John as if he was a little weirded out.

"You obviously like her. Why don't you ask her out?" Trust Gordon to poke the issue further.

John shrugged. "Hasn't come up."

Gordon groaned. "Really?" His hands dropped to his knees. "I thought it would be obvious."

John's glare was acidic. "I can't see why you can talk. How long did it take you to ask Penny out? Hmm, let me think, oh, yes, that's right. You didn't. She asked you."

"Hey, I was bedridden!"

"Excuses, excuses..."

"Well, at least I'm making progress. Please tell me at least one of you guys has a possibility in your back pocket. Hell, we're all tough and buff and saving people. Hasn't anyone swooned for any of you?" Gordon's eyes raked around the circle and to Virgil's horror landed on him. "What about you, Virg. You and Tin have a bit of thing happening, don't you?"

His heart missed a beat. "What? No!"

"Virg and Kayo? Are you kidding me?" Alan was glaring at Gordon, but then seemed to second guess himself and turned that glare on Virgil. "She's our sister, bro."

Virgil held up his hands. "Hey, it wasn't me who postulated the idea."

"Postulated? Really, Virg? Me thinks you be hiding behind a dictionary."

"Shut up, Gordon."

"I think he doth protest too much."

"I think you should look into the fact she is spending the next month with Wayne Rigby and not entirely for mission related reasons."

There was no satisfaction in seeing Gordon freeze like that, or Scott's "What?"

"She's with us for New Years, but then it is onto Siberia on the third of January. Something about the possibility of a Chaos Crew tech lab infiltration." Virgil grabbed the carafe of hot chocolate off the heat cube and poured himself a good dose. He ignored the voice in the back of his head that wished it was something ever so much stronger.

"She hasn't told me about any mission." Scott was frowning at him.

Virgil hid behind his mug. "Only just came in apparently. She only mentioned it in passing while she was saying goodbye. I have no doubt she will brief you when we get home."

Gordon was staring at him. He opened his mouth but failed to say anything.

Virgil took another sip and just stared straight back. It took a moment, but eventually Gordon appeared to shake it off, frowning just a little before turning to Scott. "What about you, bro? You've always been our leader in the girlfriend department. What's the count now?"

"Thirty-two." John was smug behind his own mug of hot chocolate.

His eldest brother shifted in his seat as if suddenly uncomfortable. "Okay, I'm with Virgil on this - shut up, Gordon."

Gordon held up his hands in all his innocent glory. "Hey, I'm just brotherly bonding around the fire."

"Go bond with the volcano." John's voice was dry. "Or a whale, I hear a few pass through on occasion."

"Hey, you were the one keeping count."

"I can't help it, I'm good with numbers."

Virgil snorted. "Not good enough. You're at least two out."

The glare Scott shot him could have scorched his hair off.

"Don't worry, Scott, I'm not going to tell them about Petunia."

"Virgil!"

"What?"

"Shut it or lose it."

"Hey, I said I wasn't going to tell them."

"Tell us what?" Both Alan and Gordon were about ready to fall off their chairs with glee.

John just rolled his eyes.

"About Petunia."

"Who is Petunia?"

"You're an idiot, Virg." Scott's glare was becoming more resigned and flatter by the second. "I am so gonna let them know about Gertrude now."

Virgil snorted. "As if I'd care. She really wanted you anyway."

"Not true, you were her favourite."

"Yeah, sure, she'd turn to anyone who would give her what she wanted. I just had it more often than you."

"You planned it that way."

"I thought you of all people would appreciate a few tactics. With you around, I need all the help I can get."

"What?"

Okay, so that had come out a little too serious for Petunia talk, but then Virgil's count was far smaller than thirty-two or thirty-four depending on how you counted. Early on he had tried to get out and about like his eldest brother, but honestly it wasn't in him. He wasn't a one-nighter like Scott. Besides standing next to the heir of Tracy Industries, tall and female magnet was like trying to catch moths while standing next to a bug zapper.

"Virgil?"

"Petunia was a goose."

"What?!" It was choral from both Alan and Gordon and quickly followed by a "Virgil!" from Scott.

"She used to follow him around everywhere about the farm. It was hilarious.

"Yeah, well, Gertrude was goat and she once ate Virgil's pants. He's lucky he didn't lose more."

Scott and Virgil glared at each other across the heat cube while Gordon and Alan played eyeball tennis between them.

John just drank his chocolate, a vaguely amused expression on his face.

Virgil held his brother's furious gaze as long as he could, but he had to bite his lip. The moment he realised Scott was doing the same, it became oh so much harder.

Two seconds later he cracked up laughing. Scott followed not a moment after and both of them laughed even harder when they caught sight of the expressions on Gordon and Alan's faces.

Virgil laughed so hard he had to hold his stitches in place.

Which of course Scott saw and it drew the night to a close as big brother shifted gears into smother brother.

They cleared off the island leaving no mark behind. Gordon clucking like a hen and claiming death threats from Melissa Fisher if they left anything behind.

Making it back to the boat in the dark was easily done, but awkward and a little painful for Virgil and by the time he made it to his bed, he was worn out.

Regardless, he didn't fall asleep immediately, despite the gentle rocking of the boat. Thoughts of what could be, what could have been and what he actually wanted bounced around the inside of his skull.

It took a long time for them to fall quiet.

-o-o-o-

End Day Two.


	7. Day Three - Pt1

Title: We'll be home for Christmas

Day Three - If not for the courage of the fearless crew – Part 1

Author: Gumnut

23 - 27 Dec 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: The boys can't fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way.

Word count: 3823

Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Artist!Virgil, Minor various ships, mostly background.

Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos we haven't seen it yet.

Author's note: For scattergraph. This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic :D I hope you enjoy it.

Please note that I am not a scientist, only an artist with mad librarian skillz. I may have stretched a few facts in places here, for which I apologise, though I did research a hell of a lot to get this written (at one point I was only writing one or two lines before I had to research another fact…it was a very long process). I hope you enjoy it anyway. :D

Many thanks to vegetacide and scribbles97 for cheering me on and their wonderful support through this craziness. And to onereyofstarlight for geeking out with me over the setting.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

Day Three - If not for the courage of the fearless crew

When Virgil woke late the next morning, the yacht was already in motion. He sighed as he crawled out of bed, body groaning the entire way.

Stumbling into the living area, he didn't even have to look for the coffee. John simply met him halfway and handed him a mug.

He inhaled it. The hot beverage ran down his throat and within minutes his brain was beginning to boot.

A hand landed on John's shoulder in honest gratitude. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Okay, so that grin was a little smug, but the coffee was worth it. That and it was a novelty to have John for breakfast at any time. He squeezed his brother's shoulder, blaming not enough caffeine for the sudden soppy.

His brother frowned at him. "How are you feeling?"

Okay, that fixed the soppy. He rolled his eyes. "I'm fine."

The frown turned into a smirk. "Sure. Would you like some eggs? I hid the last of the bacon from Alan, so there is some if you like."

The soppy returned. You'd think he was on drugs or something. Must be the sea air. "Thanks, John."

His brother peered at him a little more before ushering him to sit down and busying himself in the kitchenette. It wasn't long before the tantalising smell of bacon sizzling wafted through the living area.

"Hey! I thought we were out of bacon!" Alan was not impressed as he strode in, game console in hand. "You lied to me!"

John snorted as he placed the plate full of bacon and eggs in front of Virgil along with a glass of orange juice. "So, you would have eaten Virgil's share?" The arched eyebrow was challenging.

"Nooo."

"Sure, Alan." John turned around and walked back into the kitchen obviously not believing his brother.

Alan sat down across from Virgil. "I wouldn't, honest, Virg."

Perhaps his littlest brother's brain was not connected to his hand because Virgil had to slap it away from his plate almost immediately. "Sure, Alan."

The bacon was good and the eggs just right. Mouth full, "John, this is divine."

The snort from the kitchenette was loud, but the only comment he received in reply.

Virgil slapped Alan's hand away again and glared at him. "So, who's winning the game."

Alan was immediately distracted. "I was, but then John pulled a stunt with a rogue asteroid, which I'm not entirely sure was legal..." His voice rose specifically in the direction of the kitchenette.

"Game allowed it."

"Yeah, well, I PM'd the developers and they knew nothing about it!"

"Gregory never remembers what he programs. The guy does it in his sleep half the time."

"Hah! Grez is totally cool. He said you're a stick in the mud."

John wandered back into the room wiping his hands on a tea towel. "Gregory is also a card-carrying member of the Flat Earth society."

A snort from Alan. "So?"

"The man has been to space, Al. He designs video games, set in space. Explain the logic behind that?"

"Denial? Imagination? A little too much college night life?"

John threw the towel back into the kitchen. "All of the above. So, yeah, game allows it, it's legal."

"Well, I'm gonna whip your ass in the void between galaxies. Gonna stoke my ship with engines only you can dream of."

Taking a seat at the end of the table, John did not appear concerned in the slightest. "Hey, Virgil, would you like to assist me in developing a fictional intergalactic drive."

An arched eyebrow as he munched on bacon and glanced between the two of them. "Hmmm, sure."

"Hey! No fair. No engineering brothers allowed. If you get Virgil, I get Brains."

John grinned. "Go for it. International Rescue could do with one of those."

Virgil snorted. He loved Brains like a brother, but the man did not know the difference between reality and fiction. Postulate an idea such as this, give him a few hours and he'd have a working theory. Let him go, and he'd build it. The game would be forgotten the moment Alan mentioned the concept.

"You suck."

"Just using the tools at hand, Alan."

Virgil blinked. "You just called me a tool."

John shrugged and opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a string of profanity from their captain up on the bridge. The boat suddenly accelerated, swerving to port, and Virgil had to grab the remains of his breakfast as it tried to slide off the table.

A frowning Scott strode through the room. A worried glance at Virgil and John, he took the most direct route towards the bridge and disappeared. Alan dropped his console onto the lounge and darted after him.

At higher speeds, the boat began to bounce off the wave peaks. Virgil decided that staying put was probably in his best interests and apparently John agreed as he reached out and gently grabbed Virgil's arm.

"I'm okay."

"Just making sure."

He didn't bother responding to that.

Wherever the boat was going, apparently it got there quickly because it wasn't at full acceleration for long and it slowed quickly to a stop, her hull wallowing in the water at the sudden lack of forward momentum.

As Virgil pushed himself to his feet, he glared at the hand wrapped around his bicep. John didn't let go.

"If you fall on your face on my watch, Scott will kill me."

"I'm fine."

His brother still didn't let go. This was ridiculous.

But apparently smother was in the Tracy genetic code, because John held onto him the entire way up to the bridge. Only to find it locked down and empty.

All three brothers were out on the bow of the boat.

He could hear Gordon swearing from here. What the hell had his brother all riled up?

It took his slow way onto the bow - those steps still hurt, damn it - for him to find out.

"It's caught in her mouth. Goddamnit!"

"Hey, hey, Gordon. We can help her. Tell us what we need to do." Scott's voice was tense. Virgil read it clearly as pissed, but needing to calm a brother and fix a problem before blowing a circuit.

What the hell had happened?

"Gordon?"

His fish brother shot distraught eyes in his direction. "We've got a humpback calf caught in a gill net. A fucking illegal gill net. Here. I'm gonna string the bastards up and Mel is gonna skin them alive!"

Gordon stormed past Virgil and John, heading towards the back of the boat, thumbing his comms. "Mel, you got your ears on?"

Virgil turned to look out across the surface of the ocean and sure enough a single dark buoy appeared just off to port about fifty metres away. To his horror there was a weak whale spout just as his eyes focussed on the spot.

Scott strode past and gently clasped his shoulder, his eyes bleak before following Gordon aft. Alan hurried after him.

A glance at John found his brother's professional facade well in place. Gordon could be heard yelling over his comms from the other end of the boat.

The whale breached again.

Shit.

-o-o-o-

Scott followed his little brother as he stormed down the length of his yacht.

"Mel, what the hell do you mean this isn't the first time."

"Don't get me wrong, Gordon, I'm as angry as you, but these assholes know what they are doing. I've had the coast guard out here sixteen times in the last year and they haven't managed to catch one of them. We've lost turtles, sunfish, rays and earlier in the season a humpback died of its injuries. We can't locate the nets. They don't appear on our scanners."

"Well, they appear on mine and I'm not putting up with this crap."

"Any help is appreciated, Gordon. If I knew you'd be able to detect them, I would have called you in earlier. If you can give us the locations, it would be much appreciated."

"I'll get John on it immediately. In the meantime, we have an injured calf and a distressed mother to attend to."

"Do you want me down there?"

His brother paused a moment and dragged in a calming breath. "I'll do an assessment. If I need help, I'll call Kayo to come get you."

"Keep me in the loop, Thunderfish. Play it safe. Mamma Humpback is going to be anxious." A pause. "Sorry your vacation has been interrupted."

"Screw my vacation. We're gonna get these bastards." Scott didn't think he had ever seen his brother so angry. It was understandable. "Speak to you soon. A Little Lightning out."

Gordon immediately turned to Scott. "We have a situation."

Scott let his head drop just a little in acknowledgment. "Yes, we do. This is yours, Thunderbird Four. Tell me what you need."

-o-o-o-

With the power of TB5 they discovered an intricate network of netting just to the west of the Kermadecs, trailing intermittently down their full length. To regular sensors they were invisible, but to IR sensors they were a flicker. A flicker John was able to focus on and bring up a clear picture.

Gordon, now dressed in his IR uniform, swore a bluestreak at how many nets were actually out there. John put him through to WASP Command and Gordon gave a very colourful report to the regional commander, who just happened to be a former squad mate of his. Her response was more formal, but no less colourful.

With tight expressions, Gordon, Scott and Alan climbed into the inflatable dingy and rowed their way out to the beleaguered cetacean. Gordon used the effort to push his anger into the oars. He couldn't afford to have his thoughts clouded by the bastards who had done this.

Sensors told him the calf had a net caught in its mouth and wrapped around its right pectoral fin. The fine mesh hung down its left side, dangling into the depths where it had caught on a snag. The chances of it catching right there were ridiculously small, the waters so deep between the islands. But the net was hundreds of metres long, weighted, and, even tangled, it reached down far enough to snag itself on a submerged pile of rock.

Hell, he was going to need Four to get down that deep to get the net out of the water.

If the calf had been snagged while diving, she wouldn't have been able to surface to breathe and would have drowned.

Bastards!

Scott darted a glance at Gordon. The aquanaut held his gaze. His eldest brother was dressed in an IR wetsuit. It was startling to see him out of his familiar uniform. Gone was his flight baldric and in its place, yellow slashed across his blue, visibility more the priority underwater. The only concessions to his commander rank were his shoulder patches and twin silver-grey bands on that yellow baldric. Alan was dressed similarly, but where Scott sported silver, Alan sported red. Neither had their helmets on.

Gordon had only mentioned the suits to Scott when preparing for this venture because he had hoped to enjoy some recreational diving. Their suits were far above average equipment, so why not use the best to have a little fun?

Scott had rolled his eyes, but five wetsuits had been thrown into their luggage. They had supposed to be used for sharing his world with his brothers.

Gordon swore under his breath again and tugged at the oars angrily.

"We'll fix this." Scott's voice was calm, ever the commander when on duty. And on duty they were.

When he got his hands on those assholes...

"A Little Lightning to Inflatable. Mother Humpback is on the move towards you." John had been tracking her frantic circles around her calf.

Gordon dropped the oars and grabbed his scanner. Sure enough, the worried behemoth was angling in towards them. She posed a serious threat despite their benign intentions.

"Roger that, A Little Lightning."

The inflatable stilled in the water, three pairs of eyes stared out across the surface.

"Be quiet. Here she comes."

Not twenty metres away, the mother surfaced, her spout spraying them all with angry water. Her huge mass coasted just under the surface and beelined to her daughter.

Gordon's heart lurched at the distressed groans she made as she nuzzled her trapped calf.

"I'm going in." He shoved his helmet on.

Scott caught his arm. "Are you sure that is wise?"

He caught his brother's worried eyes. "You are just going to have to trust me. I know what I am doing."

A bitten lip, but Scott nodded once and let him go.

Gordon slipped quietly over the edge of the inflatable and into the water.

-o-o-o-

Virgil stood on the bridge of A Little Lightning and swallowed hard. It was frustrating to be caught unable to do anything, but in this kind of situation, it wasn't an unfamiliar feeling.

Usually, though, he was hovering in Two far above the surface.

John stood beside him, a mission hologram projecting from his tablet, his hands playing the portable controls as smoothly as Virgil played his piano. Eos spoke up quietly, relaying reports from WASP as the organisation swooped in on the illegal fishing organisation somewhere off to the west. His brothers' vitals danced in one corner, the readout from the sensors and the now deployed sensor buoy hung beside them.

Virgil could only watch.

"Gordon, approach with extreme care. The mother is emitting infrasound, beyond our hearing. She is very distressed." John's voice was sharp, but calm as the sensors traced the sound pattern in the air before him.

Whispered. "FAB, John. I can feel it. She may be calling for help. Silence on comms."

And Virgil realised he could feel it, too. A rumble in his bones, a wail so deep it could only be felt, not heard.

He closed his eyes.

He felt her shift octaves, the sound pulsing, her thrum desperate. It vibrated at the edge of his sensory perception, slipping in and out, barely felt in his body tissues, his fingertips, the sensitive incisions in his gut.

"Virgil? You okay?"

John's soft voice startled him, throwing him out of focus. "What?"

He received a copper frown for his efforts. "You're pale."

"I'm fine."

Green eyes narrowed, but his brother didn't comment further. He returned to his holograms, bringing up a satellite lifesign read of the area.

"We're receiving a reply." John frowned. "Another. Several. Locating sources. Eos, give me a narrow frequency band and pinpoint." The AI didn't answer but several dots appeared on the satellite view. John waved a hand and zoomed in on a cluster in the Southern Ocean. The view focussed and cleared and Virgil was again amazed at Brains' skill as the surface of the ocean appeared and a pod of whales was defined. They were all travelling in a south-easterly direction.

Over two thousand kilometres from the mother and calf. John zoomed out again and scanned for a closer answer. He found one but it was still fifteen hundred kilometres distant. Far too far away to return to help the distraught mother.

But then another signal came in, this one only three hundred kilometres away to the south-east. John narrowed in on the location, only to find another mother and calf.

"Is that the mother and calf we encountered two days ago?" The subjects of his painting.

"More than likely. Gordon did say it was very late in the season. The humpback whales migrate from tropical waters north-west to south-east across the Kermadec Ridge on their way to feeding grounds near Antarctica during spring. That places the nets in the optimal position to do the most damage."

Virgil stared at the kilometres of lines denoting the position of so many illegal fishing nets."

"Do you think WASP will be able to stop this?" His voice came out parched and cold, an echo of the anger building inside.

"They will do their best. Gordon won't rest, you know that. I've also asked Penny to investigate. This impinges on Tracy Industries' ecological interests so I have contacted the board." His lips thinned. "We will find those responsible."

The lines taunted him. How many? How many lives had been taken moments before sanctuary?

"Virgil?"

The mother shifted octaves again and he found himself closing his eyes.

A hand landed on his arm. Soft. "Virgil?"

He startled. John's turquoise eyes were frowning at him again.

"She's terrified."

"Gordon will free her calf."

"She doesn't know that."

Her thrum was in his bones, vibrating his very soul.

And then the calf cried out.

-o-o-o-

Gordon had always felt small beside his brothers, but floating next to a leviathan of the open ocean there was no comparison.

The mother humpback was nuzzling her calf, a mixture of chirps and groans vibrated through the water accompanied by the modulating infrasound, screaming fear across the Pacific.

Knowledge of cetaceans scrolled through Gordon's mind, but instinct was yelling at him.

Never get between a mother and her baby.

But the baby was in pain and her mother was unable to help her.

He could.

He edged closer, ever quiet, calm.

Mamma shifted in his direction, her great head swinging around and tossing him about in the resultant wake. Gordon caught himself and took the opportunity to slip in even closer.

C'mon, beautiful, I don't mean you any harm. I'm here to help.

He reached out and touched the calf's flank.

The calf shifted away, crying out and her mother propelled herself forward towards Gordon.

He darted backwards, holding up a hand. "Hey, hey, I'm here to help." She couldn't understand the words, but perhaps the intent?

A groan wrapped around him, followed by a click.

"Gordon!" Scott's voice echoed about his helmet.

And into the water around him.

Shit.

He scrambled backwards as Mamma reacted. Surging forward she nudged him hard enough to force him to the surface. "Woah!" He got a brief glimpse of Scott gesticulating at him from the inflatable, obviously agitated and then everything was bubbles.

He lost orientation for a moment and just settled for swimming away from the chaos.

"Goddamnit, Gordon, answer me!"

"Shut up, Scott. I've got this! Silence on comms!"

He dove.

Deep.

He relied on his suit to keep his body pressure static as he propelled himself fifty metres straight down.

Sunlight flickered turquoise and disappeared into the depths.

Mamma didn't follow.

Gordon hovered there a moment, looking up at the silhouettes of the two whales and the dingy far above. Mamma returned to nuzzling her calf, her pectoral fins churning the water into bubbles with the smallest movements.

Okay, Gords, you've got this. Gentle, calm and persistent.

He began his ascent.

-o-o-o-

Virgil tensed as his brother was thrown from the water only to disappear and dive down deep.

Gordon's snarl across comms at Scott was acid.

The mother's call shifted an octave to the point Virgil could almost hear the clear C, F, and G notes hanging in the air.

Three hundred kilometres away, the second mother and calf answered and turned around.

Virgil stared at the dots on John's map as they slowly began moving towards them. It would take them a good chunk of the day and night to reach the distressed calf, but the other mother was answering the call.

John's monitor sketched out the answer, far below human hearing and far too distant to be felt.

A complicated, pulsating aria of sound.

It wove around the mother's distress call, each note dancing with its partner, an answer in form as well as content.

Staring at the readout, he found himself humming the notes, switching cadence, following the thread.

The rumble in his throat spoke counterpoint to the song in his bones. It completed. It felt...reassuring.

"Virgil?"

"What?!" He blinked. Shocked at his own outburst as John took a step back, Virgil drew in a shaky breath. "Sorry."

John's voice was quiet. "What is it?"

Virgil stared at his brother, then back at the sensor buoy's holographic display showing Gordon swimming up the water column. "Can we transmit sound into the water?"

It was John's turn to blink. "Of course."

"At infrasound levels?"

John pulled up the buoy's specs and Virgil knew the answer before his brother could vocalise it.

"Wait there."

He had an idea.

-o-o-o-

The sight of the abrasions on the side of the calf's mouth physically hurt Gordon. He swam up slowly beside the calf on the other side from its mother. He kept quiet but made sure the calf knew he was there.

It edged closer to its mother.

"Hey, beautiful. I'm not going to hurt you."

She whined, her sonics vibrating through him.

Mamma growled in the way only a mamma whale could and, blowing spray up into the air, drew in breath and dove.

She slipped below her daughter and targeted Gordon.

Oh shit.

He flung himself to the left and down. He could manoeuvre easily around her, but...

...her tail swung and he was caught in a rush of wake, bubbles and the need to avoid the whacking she was trying to give him.

"Okay, I get the message. But Mom, you're going to have to back off or your baby is going to die." The calf could last only so long before exhaustion and predators put an end to her struggles.

Mamma swam around in a tight circle and for a moment one of her great eyes caught his, her intelligence and fear glaring at him through the turquoise light.

His external mic picked up a single note.

What?

The note shifted and became more of a wail, cut off and was silent.

Mamma whale was still staring at him.

Another note. Again it was modulated, but this time his brother's voice accompanied it, Virgil's raw baritone holding the note for a few seconds before shifting down his range to another note. His keyboard, for there was no doubt that Virgil had his keyboard with him, emitted a series of low moans.

Gordon shivered.

His brother was playing infrasonic, he could feel it, no doubt using the transmitter on the buoy.

Mamma was still staring at him.

He could give his brother all the points for effort, but there had yet to be a case where humans could communicate with whales. Many had tried. Most were ignored. The most success had been achieved with touch, which is what Gordon was attempting to do.

If he could get close enough without having his head handed to him.

Virgil shifted from single notes to a more complex weaving of sounds, combining his voice with the keyboard in a way he had never quite heard from his brother.

Mamma blinked.

Clicked three times.

And let off a wail of sound that tore at his heart.

Virgil answered.

-o-o-o-

End Day Three, Part One


	8. Day Three - Pt2

Title: We'll be home for Christmas

Day Three - If not for the courage of the fearless crew – Part 2

Author: Gumnut

23 - 27 Dec 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: The boys can't fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way.

Word count: 2909

Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Artist!Virgil, Minor various ships, mostly background.

Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos we haven't seen it yet.

Author's note: For scattergraph. This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic :D I hope you enjoy it.

Okay, you've almost caught up with me and I go back to work tomorrow So, unfortunately updates are going to slow as work takes over my life for the next five days – it is my double weekend where I work both Saturday and Sunday and I will whinge appropriately. I have been fortunate to be off work from Christmas to New Years and have churned out somewhere around 15,000 words in an attempt to finish this fic…and I failed (It is currently at 32,000 words and climbing). Getting there though, but my writing speed will drop dramatically as RL takes over ::pouts::

Happy New Year to all you wonderful Thunderbirds peeps. Thank you for all your support on this fic and all the others I've played with throughout the year.

Many thanks to vegetacide and scribbles97 for cheering me on and their wonderful support through this craziness. And to onereyofstarlight for geeking out with me over the setting.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

"You're going to be talking gibberish. We don't speak whale. You could do more harm than good."

"I have to try."

"This isn't about you."

"I know that, John." A harsh indrawn breath. "Please. It might be just enough to cause a distraction to draw the mother away so Gordon can do what needs to be done."

John glared at his brother. It wasn't an angry glare, but a worried one. Virgil was acting odd. His attention kept focussing elsewhere, his expression troubled.

But John trusted Virgil, so he set up the audio interface with the buoy, giving both his brother's mic and his keyboard access to the amplifier and transmitter currently hanging in the water column. He looped in full control over the frequency and amplitude and duplicated the buoy's holographic feed onto Virgil's tablet so his brother could see what was happening.

Gordon appeared to be in a glaring contest with the mother whale.

Virgil played the first note.

John held his breath.

And his brother began to sing.

-o-o-o-

Virgil recited the notes of the distant whales' answer to the mother's distress call in his head as his fingers touched the keyboard. It had a pattern in both the math and the music bouncing around in his brain. He couldn't duplicate it, but he could harmonise with it.

At first he echoed it a little, getting a feel for the extra dimension of the lower frequencies and the fact he couldn't hear it when the computer calculated it below human range. Then he improvised.

The mother's call still echoed through his body, its pulses sharp and poignant. Whales were mammals. Humans shared a relatively recent ancestor and if there was one constant amongst all the mammals on this planet, it was emotion. It might not be quite the same, but if he could feel that mother's anguish, perhaps she could feel his reassurance, his hope, his need to help.

He wasn't one to sing often, but in this case he felt the need to connect beyond the electronic and create the sounds only his voice could communicate.

So after a few initial attempts to align his music with the language of the great whale, he let himself go.

-o-o-o-

Mamma whale continued to stare at Gordon.

His brother's voice echoed through the water around him, the melody fractured by the parts Gordon could not hear.

"C'mon, beautiful, you gotta like that. Virgil is a great musician." Please.

She moaned again.

Virgil's melody acknowledged her even though Gordon knew his brother had no idea what she was saying.

The music pleaded and even Gordon felt its draw.

Mamma muttered and drifted a little closer to her calf, nuzzling her as the little girl whimpered.

Calming notes and his brother's voice slipped into a fragmented resemblance of a familiar lullaby their mother had sung when they were children. No words, just notes, his tone softer, his voice deepening.

Gordon edged closer to Mamma.

She didn't move.

Still staring, her beautiful eye fixated on him.

Closer.

A little more.

He reached out and touched her.

Still she stared.

He brushed his gloved hand across the folds above her eye. "That's it, beautiful. I'm from International Rescue. We're here to help."

The water vibrated around him as she punctuated his statement with her voice.

Moving slowly, he took off his right glove, removing the barrier between them.

Her skin was wrinkled, yet smooth to touch.

Her eye kept staring at him.

He kept stroking.

Virgil kept singing.

They stayed that way for a period of time Gordon wasn't quite sure he could measure, when Mamma suddenly let off a grunt and a whine before backing off a little, opening the distance between her and her calf.

Oh, thank god.

"Thank you, Mamma."

She didn't answer, but also didn't stop staring at him.

Gordon edged closer to the calf and when she didn't intervene, he moved even closer, approaching the little one where she could see him, her frantic eye darting between him and her mother.

Net was snagged up half her face and wrapped around her pectoral fin.

Gordon swallowed and approached, reaching gently up in a parrot of the movements he had made with her mother.

"Hey, sweetheart. Who did this to you? Hey?" He reached out and touched her eyebrow ever so gently. "I'm so sorry. We'll make it better. I promise."

His bare fingers brushed such soft skin.

She didn't pull away.

"Hey, Scott. You and Alan, in the water, quietly. Either side of this little one. Let's get her free."

His brothers' FABs were ever so quiet.

Gordon stroked the little girl's eyebrow, muttering reassurances as his brothers materialised quietly beside her. It was no surprise when it was Scott who took his side between calf and mother.

Mamma moved a little, but didn't protest.

Keep eye contact.

Keep stroking.

Keeping his voice low. "It is wrapped around her fin and caught in her mouth. Scott, see if you can free her fin. Alan, cut away the netting on that side and I will manage it on this side. She is very tired. Who knows how long she's been stuck here." His stomach roiled with anger again.

"FAB, bro."

Scott's hand landed gently on his shoulder and squeezed.

Virgil was still singing.

Gordon kept stroking.

Scott made short work of the net on her fin, cutting the cursed nylon rigging away with a very sharp knife. Alan signalled that he had cut the netting on her left side.

"She's looking at me." Alan's voice was quiet.

"Al, she's scared. Show her you care."

Gordon was still stroking her eye ridges.

"How?"

"Reassure her. She's a rescuee like any other."

As Gordon turned to the net caught in her mouth, his little brother started murmuring reassurances.

"Okay, sweetheart, let's get you free." He put his glove back on and with a final brush of her brow, he set to work cutting netting away from her throat folds.

In places it had gouged deep into her skin.

His heart flickered between sorrow and anger.

Scott moved in to assist and between them the majority of the snag was cut away.

That only left the tangle in her mouth. She was actually free to move now, but she stayed where she was, perhaps unaware of her freedom, perhaps because she still had net in her mouth.

Bubbles danced on her skin as she stared at him.

He brushed his hand across her eye ridge again, ever so gentle.

Scott settled beside him and tentatively reached out and touched her flank. "She's beautiful."

Gordon sighed. "That she is." A pause. "Stay here. Keep her calm as much as you can. I need to look at her other side. Removing that last piece will probably hurt." He swallowed. Ignoring the emotion roiling in his gut, he turned away and dove under her.

Alan was splayed across her left flank, still murmuring reassurances, his arms wrapped around her as much as he could.

Gordon bit his lip, not sure whether to laugh or cry at the sight of his little brother hugging a whale.

Ultimately, he did neither and simply approached her other eye beside Alan and gave her a reassuring stroke.

The net had worn into the corners of her mouth as she struggled against the snag. He could only pray it wasn't caught in her baleen.

Gritting his teeth, he nudged the net a little, testing it to see if he could pull it out. Once slipped from the groove it had cut into the poor calf's skin, it did move...just enough to give him hope.

"Okay, guys, be wary. This might hurt." He reached over and caressed her eye ridge again. "Sweetheart, I'm sorry, but this has to come out. We're almost done." Another caress.

Her eye fixated on him.

He tugged on the net.

To his surprise it slid easily, the majority of it just thin nylon rope.

Then it snagged.

The calf let out a sharp groan, her pectoral fins flailing.

Shit.

Alan narrowly missed getting tossed.

"Woah!" Scott yelped from her other side.

"Scott, you okay?"

"I'm good. That must have hurt. Have you got it all out?"

"No." It was a rush of exhaled air.

Mamma moaned, then clicked at her daughter, but she stayed where she was.

Gordon returned to her eye. "I'm sorry, sweetheart." His hand stroked her again. God, he wished he could communicate with her. Ask her to open her mouth so he could take the blasted net out safely.

As if the thought was a magic wand, she did exactly that, slowly opening her mouth just a crack.

"Oh, that's it, sweetheart, yes." His hand brushed over her rostrum, gently encouraging her to open just that little bit wider. Her sheets of baleen emerged and Gordon refused to acknowledge his awe of this moment, knowing if he did, he would get lost in it.

Reaching in, he gently slid his fingers between the brush-like filaments of her feeding filters, ever aware he was probably either the first or one of very few to have ever reached into a live whale's mouth. His fingers followed the netting until he could feel what it had caught on. And yes, it was caught in her baleen.

He swore silently and, as gently as he could, he fiddled with the rope, desperate to get it loose.

The calf shifted in the water, agitated. Mamma called out again and Virgil, still playing, still singing, answered best he could with a gentle note echoing through the water.

"Almost there, sweetheart." He said it more to reassure himself than the calf. He wanted to swear. Unable to see the snag and relying on touch, he failed to locate the tangle. Frustrated he removed his hand and then removed his glove. He needed more information.

Placing his bare hand into a whale's mouth was an experience. But it gave him the information he needed to unhook the netting from her plates. Something soft and squishy brushed against his palm and he had the distinct impression that he had just been licked.

In any case, he was able to remove his hand and the netting along with it.

The relief was a physical thing, his whole body wilting.

He handed the net fragment to Alan and with a brush of his bare fingers across her rostrum again, he returned to her eye.

She stared at him.

"You're free, sweetheart." His fingers touched her eye ridge and to his astonishment, his vision blurred.

Aw, shit. Crying underwater was not a good idea.

He blinked madly and straightened himself out. "John, Virgil can stop playing now. She's safe." Scott swam up beside Gordon and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

The calf's eye flickered to his brother and back to Gordon.

Virgil sung one more note, long and plaintive, then faded into silence.

Water lapped at the calf's flanks.

A quiet click.

A moan.

And Mamma was moving in.

Gordon grabbed Scott and Alan and dragged them backwards, out of range as Mamma took her place beside her offspring. There were several more clicks and moans.

She draped a pectoral fin over her baby.

Nudged her gently.

A flick of a tail and they were both moving. The calf was still exhausted, but she was no longer snared and the injuries should heal, though likely scar. Gordon thought briefly back to the sunfish he had seen yesterday. One of the lucky ones. His anger surfaced again.

Mamma groaned loudly and a wave of something washed over them. Gordon felt it in his gut. It was as if she had reached out and touched him with her voice.

They stayed there until the blue of distance swallowed the pair.

As the last of the adrenalin left his system, Gordon found himself shaking. But it wasn't over yet. He turned towards the inflatable. "John, I need Four out here, now."

-o-o-o-

It took John to snap him out of it.

Soft words.

A hand on his shoulder.

An end to the music.

Virgil found his throat aching, his abdomen complaining and his whole musculature system pissed at him for holding his position so long, wired with so much tension.

He let his shoulders drop and groaned. "God." His hands on his face and he bent over the keyboard.

"Virgil?"

"I'm fine." It was automatic and muffled by his palms.

John's hand was back on his shoulder anyway.

Virgil sighed and pushed himself upright, looking up at his brother. "I'm okay, John, honest."

That earned him a copper frown. But John was forced to turn back to his controls as WASP called in.

Virgil rubbed his face.

His holographic display showed the mother and her daughter turning back onto the south-easterly migration route. His eyes latched onto them.

The mother let off a groan and a wave of intensity washed over him. His bones sung with it and he gasped out loud.

Then it was gone.

"Goodbye." It was a parched whisper falling from his lips.

John was shooting more worried looks at him.

Virgil pushed away his keyboard and struggled to his feet. Yes, he was going to pay for this little jamming session. His abdomen complained extensively.

But his head was so...full.

"Vir-"

"I'm fine!" Okay, it came out sharper than it should have. Another sigh. "Sorry. I'm..." He waved a hand in the direction of the back of the boat. "I'm just going to see if Gordon is okay." His brothers were making for the inflatable on his display.

"Take it easy." John's expression was still annoyingly worried.

"I'm good. I promise." He just needed a moment to think.

Gordon called for Four and John turned to action the request. Virgil took the chance for what it was and slipped out of the room, one arm wrapped around his middle.

-o-o-o-

By the time Gordon made it to the inflatable and dragged himself and his brothers out of the water, Two was on approach.

He glanced at their yacht and sure enough, his second eldest brother could be seen climbing the steps to the bow of the boat. He was hunched over just a little more than Gordon was comfortable with.

He nudged Scott and gestured in Virgil's direction.

His big brother's lips thinned.

Two's VTOL fired as she braked mid-air and levelled herself out. Tin was brusque, keeping conversation to procedure, no doubt as unhappy with the reason for this callout as the rest of them.

Virgil straightened on the bow of the yacht and stared up at his 'bird.

"I'm going to fish that net off the ocean floor before it can hurt anyone else. You want to field our musician?"

"FAB." It was muttered as Scott eyed his artist brother across the water.

Okay, it wasn't fighting fair to target Virgil with smother-brother number one, but there had been something in that music that even Gordon and his tin ear could pick up. He would check on the man himself, but that net had to be removed immediately.

Two dropped her module with a splash and Alan engaged the inflatable's engine to dart them over to it. Gordon jumped off onto the open module ramp, the sight of his 'bird, as always, lifting his spirits.

He rolled his shoulders as Alan turned the inflatable around and bee-lined for the yacht.

"Okay. Let's do this."

-o-o-o-

"I'm fine."

Virgil said it loud enough to be heard above the roar of Two's VTOL the moment Scott set foot on the top step leading up to the bow. His wetsuit was still dripping, blue neoprene leaving puddles in his footprints.

He raised his hands defensively. "I didn't say a thing."

"You thought it, though."

Scott shrugged and took the remaining steps to reach his brother's side. He eyed him sideways, noting the tension knotting the muscles in Virgil's shoulders through the light shirt he was wearing.

An arched eyebrow and Scott reached out, letting his arm drape across those tight shoulders. As expected they flinched the moment he touched them. He pushed the matter and pulled his brother into a damp one armed hug, regardless.

Some of the tension slipped away.

Target result achieved.

"That was some performance."

"Hmm." It was distracted and barely acknowledged, Virgil's eyes still on his 'bird.

"John says WASP was able to grab a good percentage of the onsite perpetrators. Penny reports she has some good leads on the financial sources. We will find those responsible and they will pay."

"They can rot in hell." The hate and acid in Virgil's voice was so uncharacteristic, Scott had to stop himself from taking a step back.

"Virg?"

He turned away, pulling himself out from under Scott's arm. "I'm going to go lie down. And before you ask, yes, I'm fine, okay and completely dandy. Just...a little tired." Virgil ran a hand across his face.

Scott eyed him, completely unconvinced, but knowing if he said anything it would be either brushed off or his brother would explode. "Okay."

Virgil looked up at him and Scott was taken aback by the anguish in those dark eyes. But Virgil reached out and squeezed his arm before brushing past and heading back towards the steps off the bow.

Scott's eyes followed him as his brother braced his side and made his way down.

Yes, they could rot in hell.

-o-o-o-

End Day Three, Part Two


	9. Day Three - Pt3

Title: We'll be home for Christmas

Day Three - If not for the courage of the fearless crew – Part 3

Author: Gumnut

27 - 29 Dec 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: The boys can't fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way.

Word count: 4811

Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Artist!Virgil, Minor various ships, mostly background.

Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos we haven't seen it yet.

Author's note: For scattergraph. This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic :D I hope you enjoy it.

Now you've caught up. I don't have the next bit written yet (only bits of it), so I'm winging it from here. Also, it was hard to find a good spot to cut/end this chapter and it is quite long. Hopefully that can tide you over until I can get the next bit out. Also, if I can get to see the new eps, I would really like to write some episode tags, but I'm still tied up in this fic with a trail of WiPs behind me ::wails:: I want to wriiiiiite more than I can ::wails some more:: I guess, I'll just have to write in my sleep :D

Many thanks to vegetacide and scribbles97 for cheering me on and their wonderful support through this craziness. And to onereyofstarlight for geeking out with me over the setting.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

It was mid-afternoon and Gordon was exhausted by the time he made it back to A Little Lightning. The ocean had a decent depth here and it had taken some time to get down, untangle and cut masses of netting from the rocks it was snagged in, stow it safely and then run the decompression ladder up the water column.

Two took Four back on board and Gordon was tempted to go with his sister back to the Island. He even suggested it, but Tin simply grabbed him by the shoulders, turned him around and marched him back to the hatch. "I've got this, Fish."

"I need to clean out Four."

"You're on vacation. Besides, I need to deliver that net to WASP along with the rescue recordings. I'll take care of your 'bird, don't worry."

He eyed her. "That is a lot to ask of you. You are already taking care of Virg's girl."

Her eyes flickered away a moment and he frowned.

"I will take care of it, Gordon. Now go back to your boat. She needs her captain." A smirk. "Or do you want to leave her in Scott's hands?"

"Hell, no." And before he could second think that thought she had him lowered to the ocean and jumping off Two's forward hatch.

Alan scooped him out of the water in the inflatable asTwo rose in height and banked around in a curve. A moment and her massive rear thrusters fired, her roar bouncing off the water around him as she tore off into the distance.

A glance at the bow of his yacht.

Virgil was nowhere to be seen.

It took another half hour of getting himself cleaned up and being sideswiped by Scott who made him shove a sandwich down his throat before he could chase up his musical brother.

"He's resting."

Gordon stared at Scott sitting across from him at the table. "Voluntarily?"

His big brother sighed. "Yeah, well, I wasn't going to question him suddenly doing something right, was I?"

"Is he okay?"

Scott shrugged. "He said he was fine."

"But you don't believe him." He could see it in his brother's eyes.

Quiet. "No...no, I don't."

Gordon opened his mouth to comment by was interrupted by John striding into the room. "We got them."

"What?" He stared up at his space brother.

"Penny traced down the culprits and located the financial source. All roads lead back to a Richard Polominka, a billionaire who owns half the French seaboard. She's got enough evidence to bring him down."

Gordon stared at him. He wanted the energy to feel jubilant, but honestly he only felt the bare minimum of relief. It would stop, but how many had died? "Penalty?"

John straightened. "Enough. Penny followed through and she believes she has enough for life imprisonment."

He looked away. "Good."

The yacht rocked ever so gently, the lap of water against her hull, the only sound for a long moment.

"Thank you, John." Scott's gratitude was obvious, but his eyes were on Gordon.

John's eyes darted between the two of them, questions in their turquoise that he didn't ask. "Gordon, when you're ready, Mel Fisher would like a report."

"Yeah, thanks, John."

His space brother dropped a hand onto Gordon's shoulder and squeezed before heading back up to the bridge.

"Well, that's it. We freed the calf, WASP is picking up the illegal nets and Penny found the person responsible. I think this mission is complete."

"I need a drink."

He felt Scott staring at him as he stood up and strode over to the bar.

"It is the middle of the afternoon."

"Yeah, well, I had to stare a baby whale in the eye today and then hurt her to save her life, so you'll excuse me if I would like a drink a little early."

But Scott was suddenly in front of him, his hand on the bottle in Gordon's hand. "Go and talk to him."

Gordon looked up. "Why?"

"Because I think you need to." A swallow. "And he needs to as well."

He opened his mouth to argue, but nothing came to mind. He let the bottle go. "Fine."

Scott placed it back on the shelf. "He's in his cabin."

-o-o-o-

The Tracy brothers mental health network was skewed. Gordon had to admit it. If you were a younger brother, you got the better deal. The more older brothers you had the more smothering you received until you were well again. Virgil had long compensated for Scott's lack of an older smother brother by just smothering up the chain. But that was Virgil.

Of course, all brothers smothered up the age curve to a certain extent, but being younger and trying to look after an older brother who while bleeding to death might be eyeing you up and down and asking you if you were okay and telling you to sit down, it was smothering against the current.

And apparently, the older the Tracy, the more stubborn and less likely he was to take the advice of the younger Tracy.

So in summary, it was usually Scott who fielded any issues with Virgil. Gordon loved the man dearly, but he had no idea how his artistic brain worked, so in turn had no real idea how to fix it, and besides older brothers don't like opening up to younger brothers. Particularly the eldest two.

But there was something about this incident. Something in the music his brother created, something in the eyes of the mother and her calf, Gordon felt it. He wanted to understand it. It called to him.

He knocked on the cabin door.

And received no answer.

"Virgil?"

Silence.

He waited a moment longer before quietly opening the door and peering in.

His eyes widened.

His brother's cabin was draped in paper. Sketches and drawings lay all over the bed and the floor. There were humpback whales everywhere.

Virgil lay curled up on the bedcovers, asleep, still fully dressed in his linen shirt and shorts, fingers still wrapped around his pencil, sketchbook still in hand.

Gordon opened the door enough to let himself slide into the room. He had to reach down and pick up paper from the floor so he didn't step on it. They were hurried sketches, far from his brother's finished pieces of the day before. The pencil marks were aggravated, stabbed into the paper, the shading scribbled. On one sheet a net appeared with the whale and there was an actual hole in the page. Some pages were torn and crumpled.

God, Virg.

He closed the door behind him quietly and, picking up paper, made his way to the bed and sat on the end. The pages closer to his brother slipped into abstract shapes, words carved into the paper, none of them nice.

Ironically, looking at the drawings, Gordon could see a reflection of how he felt. There was beauty in those moments with the whales, but they were scarred and tormented by the injustice and the pain inflicted on the pair. Gordon had been there, seen it first-hand.

Virgil hadn't been beside him, but perhaps he had been there another way.

The sound of his brother's voice in the water...

"Virg?"

He didn't expect him to wake easily, Virgil never did. So the brown eyes that flicked open almost immediately, surprised him.

"Gordon." It was a hoarse rasp.

What to say next? Asking if he was okay would just be stupid.

Virgil was staring at him.

"John got the bastards."

He got a grunt for that, the brown gaze looking away enough to see the paper all over the cabin. His brother let out a resigned sigh. "Scott send you?"

"No." But it was an obvious lie.

Virgil threw the sketchbook aside and pushed himself upright, his legs falling off the side of the bed, feet hitting the floor. Gordon resisted the urge to help. It wouldn't be appreciated.

"Then why are you sitting on the end of my bed?"

"Can't I check in on you myself?"

Virgil eyed him and Gordon knew he had an inroad. Activate the elder smother brother, get him concerned about a younger brother and he would be less likely to see the concern coming from the opposite direction.

"You okay?" And yes, those eyes were combing him for injury.

"I'm fine." Okay, so he wasn't great at lying right at this very moment. But then this was Virgil, he didn't have a hope at hiding something like this from his brother's radar on his best days.

Today was far from best.

He held up a page with both mother and daughter drawn onto it. "They are beautiful, aren't they?"

Virgil blinked, some unidentified emotion flickering across his face. "Yes, they are."

"It was pretty amazing down there."

"You did an amazing job, Gordon."

He looked down at the page. "Heh, you did your own bit of amazing. Mel is going to be fascinated. You spoke to a whale."

"No, I didn't."

"You said enough to get a response."

"I had no idea what I was doing."

"You did something and it worked."

"I-" Virgil cut himself off and swallowed.

"Perhaps..." Gordon was hesitant. "When you are better, do you think you might like to try again?"

His brother's eyes widened. "To speak to a whale?"

Gordon shrugged, "Speak? Sing? Communicate on some level?"

"I didn't speak to her."

"Virg-"

"She spoke to me."

-o-o-o-

Virgil stared at his fish brother as his eyes widened. "She spoke to you?"

He sighed, let his shoulders drop and rubbed a hand over his face. How did he explain how the mother's voice had gotten into his bones, how it had felt? It wasn't words, it was just...pain. Pain and anguish that he had done his best to answer, to do what he always did, try to help.

He could still feel that vibration, that infrasound. It did something to him. He had spent the hours since trying to express what he felt. It had been such an experience, and in a way, Gordon was right, he had communicated with the whales. But it wasn't on a conscious level, it was just emotion and he felt inadequate as his response was so strong but so biased human. He had no reference but himself and it was all he could share.

And it wasn't enough.

Gordon's hand wrapped around his arm and he jumped. "Hey, it was a rescue. Whale encounters don't have to be like that. When you're better, we can go visit some humpback whales. Maybe we can introduce ourselves, get to know a particular family, build a relationship? We have Four and the technology. I can speak to Mel, get a special permit. Just you, me and the sea. What do you say?"

Gordon's expression was so honest, so raw, so his caring fish brother, how could he deny him? "Okay."

The grin that spread across Gordon's face was worth the admission. "Okay. We can do it. Fit it between missions. Take it slowly. Mel's gonna want to be in on this in some way. Maybe we can use her to help convince Scott. Use the eco-angle."

And Gordon drifted off into planning, his eager muttering, dragging a small smile from Virgil.

A rush of fondness and he grabbed his little brother in a hug.

"Woah, Virg! I'm breakable!"

That only had him smiling more. A kiss in blond hair as Gordon struggled and he let him go. The eyes looking up at him were a little wild and wary. "Wow. No hugging whales for you, you might break one."

Virgil just grinned. God, Gordon knew how to brighten the darkest of moments.

"Now, onto more important matters." Gordon held up a pile of paper. "How many dishes do I need to wash to get to own one of your whale drawings?"

Virgil frowned. "We have a dishwasher, Gordon."

His little brother grinned. "I know."

-o-o-o-

Eventually, Gordon dragged Virgil out of his cabin and to lunch. There were concerned expressions from Scott and John, even Alan had a frown on his face. But a pointed glare on Gordon's part and no-one questioned either of them.

The events of the day had drained them all, so it was decided that they would head for Raoul Island and break their voyage there before tackling the final stretch home the next day.

Gordon was quite happy about this. He had planned to drop in on Mel along the way anyway, but this gave them extra time to visit, maybe stretch their legs a little. Raoul was much larger than Tracy Island and any of the other of the Kermadecs. It was also an active volcano that twitched from time to time, IR having to fish the entire scientific compliment off the island for that exact reason more than once.

Before International Rescue existed, people had died on Raoul due to unexpected eruptions. IR could be there in minutes and it had been before.

So relief was the first emotion felt by Gordon on the bridge of his ship when Raoul appeared on his scanners. When her forested peaks finally crawled over the horizon he was quite surprised at the longing he felt for the Island. Sure, he hadn't seen Mel for ages, but really?

The emotion was there, however, and as they approached and he piloted around the great volcano to the north shore, memories of visiting with his father all those years ago explained exactly why he was feeling the way he was.

A sigh. It had been a long day. He was obviously tired and a little maudlin.

"Hey, Mel. Ima knockin' on your front door."

A snort answered him over comms. "I can see you, Fish. You did go billionaire for this trip, dinya."

"Only the best for my convalescing brother. Wouldn't have done him any good to bounce him all the way home with those holes in him, would it?"

"Excuses, excuses, Thunderfish. Don't you dare think I don't have access to the specs on that beauty. The speed that girl can attain is definitely Thunderfish territory."

It was Gordon's turn to snort. "Like you would turn down an opportunity for a decent boat."

"I have a decent boat, thank you."

"Yeah, one I sourced and bought you after I saw that piece of crap the DOC had you relying on."

"Not all of us are billionaires, Fish."

"Yeah, well, I am and I choose to exercise it when necessary." And it came out a little more strident than he had intended.

"Hey, Fish, take a breath. You okay?"

Great. Now he had Mel asking that question and he hadn't even set foot on the Island yet. "I'm good. Stressful day."

"Yes, but I am glad you were out there."

"So am I." The comms fell quiet a moment. "Meet you on the beach?"

"I'll be there. Make sure you and your brothers are clean. I want no bugs, no seeds and no life other than Tracys coming in with you. You got that?"

He rolled his eyes. "We know the drill, Mel."

"Yeah, well, if you had to fend off tourists on a regular basis, you'd be repeating yourself at all times. The last lot tried to bring a pair of cats onto the Island."

"You're kidding."

"Nope. Bloody idiots swore at me when I rejected their request to land. Said their pets deserved some time off the boat. Ended up having to call the local WASP in to escort them out of the Sanctuary."

"I bet Brandy was happy about that." Having spoken to the woman earlier in the day and found her as curt as usual, he had no doubt a request like that coming from Raoul would have set her off nicely.

"Oh, she was professional. Coulda cooked my breakfast on the heat coming off her comm signal though. For a bit there I wondered if the tourists were going to survive the encounter. I doubt I will see them again."

"You can always hope."

Another snort. "Okay, Thunderfish, secure your vessel, clean your shoes and I'll see you on the beach. Don't forget to bring that gorgeous convalescing brother of yours."

"Be nice."

Her only answer was a laugh. "Raoul out."

-o-o-o-

To say Scott was itching to get off the boat would be to grossly understate the state of his mind. Gordon was efficient in securing the yacht. He had no wish to find her run-aground in the morning, and Scott understood that perfectly. But it was frustrating to have to go over every piece of equipment to make sure no bugs had hitched a ride. He knew the reasons and agreed with them, but he just wanted off the boat!

Both Virgil and Gordon were quieter than usual and it worried him. Virgil insisted on packing his overnight bag no matter what Scott did to offer to help. He was moving slowly and Scott ended up leaving him to it before his frustration spilled all over his brother.

His own bag was packed and ready before the Island even appeared on the horizon.

Okay, so boats were not his thing, but it was only three days. Well, four now. He never thought he would be climbing the walls this badly.

The sight of all that land was just...exciting!

Alan thought it was hilarious.

"You might want to calm down there, bro. You're gonna break something."

He glared at his littlest brother lounging on the lounge with his gaming console.

Alan snorted and shot him a smart ass grin.

Little shit. "How goes the game?"

"Quite well, thank you. Just beat John to the next solar system and it is one with some serious resources. Now I have all I need for my intergalactic jump. He can eat my space dust." His words were punctuated with some serious stabbing of the gaming console.

Scott arched an eyebrow. "You might want to keep an eye on him. You know what John is like in these things."

"No, no, I've got him. It is all under control." Alan was grinning.

The grin vanished a moment later as his console screeched at him. "What the-? A mine? He seeded it with mines?!" The console screeched again. Alan's expression became tragic. "John, you asshole!"

From the other side of the boat. "Language, Alan!"

"I'll give you language! That was my solar system!"

"Finders keepers."

Alan shot to his feet and yelled the length of the boat storming off in the direction of his middle brother. His language went further south the closer he got to John.

Scott rolled his eyes. Alan never did learn. Both brothers were geniuses in their own way, but Alan just wasn't quite as devious as John. John definitely embodied the theory that it was the quiet ones you had to keep an eye on.

-o-o-o-

Scott finally got off the boat half an hour later. All five brothers climbed into the inflatable with all their luggage. It was a squeeze and since Alan was still shooting daggers at John with his eyes, at times it was an uncomfortable ride.

"C'mon, Alan, it's just a game." Virgil's calming baritone was tired. "Not worth the effort."

"Just because its reality is virtual doesn't make it any less important. Anyone with an AI daughter should know that."

John groaned. "It was all in fun. Who thought you would be such a sore loser."

"Loser?! I haven't lost yet. Don't count your space chickens before they're hatched, Johnny."

His astronaut brother only rolled his eyes.

Scott turned to Alan. "Space chickens? Really?"

"Well, he needed something to count other than mines." And the glare was back.

"If you two don't stop arguing I will join that game and obliterate both of you." That got Virgil a pair of astronauts staring at him. Scott was staring himself.

It was almost a stunned silence only punctuated by the inflatable engine and the water it was pushing through.

"You?" How Alan got enough scoff into that one word was a feat in itself.

Virgil straightened where he sat, arm wrapped around his middle. "Yeah, me. What? You don't think I could kick your butt in a video game?"

John's voice was calm as always. "You haven't played a video game in years, Virgil. Things have changed since we were kids."

"Yeah, Pong is long gone." Alan was grinning.

"Ha, ha. This morning you were both arguing over who I should help."

"Yes, but that wouldn't have been actual play. I was asking you to help me design engines. That is your wheelhouse, isn't it?"

Scott couldn't believe he was hearing this. "Hey, guys. I wouldn't underestimate him." In the field, Scott was the Commander of International Rescue, but he would be the first to admit that Virgil was essential to that command. The fact both his space brothers obviously weren't considering that at all was concerning.

"Well, he's obviously underestimating us. Go ahead, Virgil, it will be fun."

"Yes, fun to watch Alan get beaten by both of us." John's grin was pure evil.

While Alan spluttered, Virgil smirked and Scott found a smile on his own face at the sight of his brother's spirits lifting just a little.

"Okay, World of Warcraft, put your swords down, we're about to dock." Gordon throttled down the boat's engine.

The word 'dock' may as well have been replaced with the word 'rock' because this landing was no easier than the one on Macauley. It did, however, have the advantage of Melissa Fisher standing on those rocks.

Slim, blonde and no nonsense, she caught the rope Scott threw her and tied it securely.

"Kia ora, Thunderfish."

Gordon was off the boat and hugging the woman. "God, Mel, it is great to see you."

"And you brought your brothers." She said it as if it was a surprise, which they all knew it wasn't. "Alan, I haven't seen you since you were this high." She held a hand to her waist.

Gordon snorted. "So last week, huh?"

Alan glared at his brother as he climbed out of the boat. "Hey, Mel. Yeah, it's been a while." He held out his hand and she took it in both of hers.

"Well, it is great to see you now." She turned back to the remaining three brothers still in the boat bouncing on the waves. "Commander." She nodded at Scott. "Hey, Spaceman." John grinned at her. "I hear you took ill, Virgil. Sorry to hear that."

Virgil lifted up a hand and waved briefly. "I'm good."

Regardless, it took both John and Scott to get their brother off the boat and onto the rock and there wasn't a shortage of winces in the process either.

Melissa stood in front of Virgil once he got his feet under him, a brother still either side, and looked him up and down. "You're taking the skyrail up to the lodge. No way in hell are you climbing the hill in that condition."

Scott rolled his eyes as his brother tried to protest. A gentle clap up the back of the head brought his denial to a sudden halt. "Hey!"

An arched eyebrow was enough to fend off his glare.

Alan and Gordon hauled their luggage out of the boat. The moment the boat was empty, they lugged the boat out of the water and trundled it across the rocks to a spot far above the high tide mark and secured it. Scott and John helped Virgil across the rocks towards the conveyor system that enabled luggage to be transported up the hill.

"You want me to ride a flying fox?" Virgil was staring at it in horror.

"It's not a flying fox. Dad designed and built it to carry people when necessary. It is more a skyrail. Related to your chute, actually." Though admittedly it didn't look it.

"My chute?"

"Uh-huh. Where's your sense of adventure?"

"They must have taken it out with my appendix."

"Well, you're not climbing that hill. So Raoul Skyrail it is."

Scott had to admit the expression on his brother's face as they secured him in what amounted to a laidback zipline harness was quite amusing. There were some alterations made to avoid his brother's incisions and Scott refused to let him go until he was sure he was comfortable and nothing was pulling on stitches, but it was definitely smile worthy to set him on his way.

Gordon took video.

The skyrail trundled Virgil up the hill at a gentle pace while the rest of them had to climb the hill themselves.

Didn't stop Virgil glaring at them through gaps in the trees as he passed them.

"It is good to see you here, Commander." Melissa showed no sign of exertion as they climbed the hill. "It gives me a chance to thank you in person for all the resources and assistance both International Rescue and Tracy Industries have supplied us with over the years. Not to mention the loan of your brothers from time to time."

Scott smiled. "It's our pleasure. You're doing good here. It is our honour to be a part of it."

She barely came up to his shoulder, so she had to look up at him. "Well, thank you anyway. Our job would be so much harder if it wasn't for you. Hell, some of us would likely be dead. I just wanted you to know that it is very appreciated, Commander."

His smiled widened. "It's Scott, and you are most welcome."

-o-o-o-

Virgil felt like an idiot.

Sure, it was a harness, big deal. But it was a harness that had him dangling several feet off the ground with no way to get down.

He was stuck.

And looked stupid.

It took ages for his brothers to catch up and the laughter on the part of the two youngest deserved some serious retaliation. "Just get me down from here."

Even Scott had a smirk on his face. Melissa was all apologies. There were only three other people on the island at the moment and two of them were out on a survey. And, okay, she had forgotten to ask Sam to come help.

"Sam's here?" Gordon was all excitement like some damn puppy.

"Yes, Gordon. Sam is here, but you need to behave."

"Hey, that joke was a once off. I just want to talk cetaceans with him."

"And he definitely wants to talk to you about today. He nearly set off the volcano with his ranting earlier."

"That is no surprise. Wouldn't mind setting off a couple myself."

"Guys? Please?" He was still dangling and this was ridiculous.

"Ooh, sorry, Virg." The smirks on all his brothers' faces as they helped him down were annoying. Even more so when both Scott and John walked into the compound either side of him, ready to shoot out a hand if he stumbled.

"For goodness sake, I'm fine."

They ignored him.

Sam turned out to be a mirror image of Gordon except for the red hair, extensive freckling and a missing right foot. Dressed in a Hawaiian shirt loud enough to put Gordon's colour scheme to shame, the man was wearing hot pink board shorts which left the mechanical portion of his lower right limb very obvious.

"Bitten off by a shark."

"Excuse me?" Scott was frowning.

"That was the answer to the question on your face." He frowned. "Gordo?"

Gordon grinned and stepping forward pulled the man into a hug. "Hey, Sam." There was some mutual back slapping and they separated, holding each other at arm's length.

"How are you? Have you gotten shorter?" Sam's grin was infectious.

"No, but you've just lied to the Commander of International Rescue and the Chairman of Tracy Industries."

The surfer's eyes widened. "I wha-?"

Gordon stepped back and waved a hand in Scott's direction. "May I introduce my eldest brother, Scott Tracy."

Sam's eyes nearly fell out of his head. "Oh my god. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. It was a motorcycle accident. It's just that it sounds so much cooler when a shark is involved considering my occupation and it's a habit and I'm sorry, please don't fire me!"

"Gordon, what the hell?" Exasperation was the only word for Scott's tone.

It took another ten minutes to get Sam to stop apologising. Gordon got clapped up the back of his head for his trouble and the rest of them were eventually introduced. Sam's eyes stayed wide for the entire time. "Gordo, I knew you were a Tracy, but this is amazing. This is International Rescue."

"Uh, Sam, I am International Rescue."

"Yeah, but you're just you. This is THEM."

Virgil had to grin at the outrage on Gordon's face. Served him right.

-o-o-o-

End Day Three, Part Three


	10. Day Three - Pt4

Title: We'll be home for Christmas

Day Three - If not for the courage of the fearless crew – Part 4

Author: Gumnut

29 Dec 2019 - 4 Jan 2020

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: The boys can't fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way.

Word count: 4342

Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Artist!Virgil, Minor various ships, mostly background.

Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos we haven't seen it yet.

Author's note: For scattergraph. This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic :D I hope you enjoy it.

Many thanks to vegetacide and scribbles97 for cheering me on and their wonderful support through this craziness. And to onereyofstarlight for geeking out with me over the setting.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

They stashed their luggage in the hostel, a large white and wooden building that had obviously seen many residents over the years, but was well loved and maintained.

Melissa gave them a quick tour of the compound. It consisted of series of buildings similar to the hostel but of varying sizes overlooking the ocean and the adjacent Oneraki Beach. The island was basically a triangle with the encampment on the north facing side high up on Fleetwood Bluff. There was something about a Flagstaff but Virgil missed it…mainly due to the conversation Gordon and Sam were laughing over behind him.

Whatever it was called, the view was magnificent. Far below in the bay, A Little Lightning was a small white smudge on the blue of the Pacific.

Melissa ran them through the rules of conduct on the island. No one was to venture anywhere on the island outside the compound unaccompanied by a DOC employee. Please keep your luggage inside the hostel. All life is protected on the island and in the waters. It was illegal to damage or remove anything. No littering. The list went on.

It was a long one.

Apart from being a cetacean biologist and a loud talker, Sam was also apparently the resident cook on the island. Melissa put no claim to any culinary skills, so had left it to Sam.

The man had baked a cake.

A Christmas cake.

In their isolation on the boat, despite their aim to be home for Christmas, Virgil had forgotten it was the day before Christmas Eve. December twenty-three.

It wasn't the first time he had forgotten Christmas. Three years ago he had spent Christmas dragging survivors off the Amazon flood plain when the river engulfed an entire city. Christmas had been obliterated. As had the two months after due to the damn fever he had caught from those flood waters. It hadn't been a great start to the year.

But this year it was different. They were on vacation. A forced vacation, but a vacation nonetheless, of which the whole purpose was to get home in time for Christmas. Yet the decorations and the tree in the corner of the communal hall had taken him by surprise.

The cake was very nice. He had to hold Alan back from grabbing seconds. But it got him thinking about the day after next and what they would be doing as a family.

"He sang to the whales?!"

Virgil jumped at Sam's exclamation somewhere behind him.

"Yeah, he did. You should have heard it. It was incredible." Virgil's eyes widened at the pride in Gordon's voice.

"They didn't pay any attention, though, did they? All previous attempts have failed."

"Ho, Sam, I have to show you the recordings. They responded alright. Virg may not speak whale, but he knows how to speak emotion. Mamma whale definitely understood something."

Virgil buried his face in his coffee. The experience was still raw. He wasn't sure he wanted to talk about it and it was inevitable that he would be asked.

"What did he use?" And the conversation dropped to normal levels. Virgil's name was mentioned several times along with John's. Sam was eager and excited.

Virgil felt dread.

"You okay, bro?" Alan was frowning at him while hoovering the second piece of cake Virgil had already told him he couldn't have.

Why did he bother?

"So I guess we'll be hauling in extra food supplies for these people after you've finished with them."

"It was one piece of cake."

"It's the only cake, Alan."

His brother's eyes widened in realisation. "Oh."

"Yes, oh."

"I'll bring them something before New Years."

"Yes, you will."

"Or maybe Scott can. He might want to visit."

"What? Why?" But Alan was gesturing with his head in the direction of their eldest brother.

Deep in conversation with Melissa Fisher.

Virgil raised an eyebrow.

-o-o-o-

"So by claiming for twenty one instead of twenty volunteers we get just that extra bit of funding."

"Clever move." Scott had finished his cake and was drinking tea. Virgil had shot him an incredulous look when he asked for it, but if there was one thing Scott remembered about this place, it was the herbal tea. Melissa knew how to brew a great drink…even if she had to threaten him and his father to try it the first time.

"Are you still using Jack Dunning?"

"Oh, yes, the man is brilliant. And he does all our work pro bono which saves us so much. Thank you for the recommendation."

Scott was not going to mention one Gordon Tracy jumping up and down in front of him one afternoon several years ago. His aquanaut brother had been apoplectic and at the end of a very sharp conversation, Scott had been more than willing to call in their lawyers to act on behalf of the DOC Kermadec Expedition. The fishery megacorporation challenging the validity of the Sanctuary hadn't known what hit them.

And if Scott wanted Jack to send him all the bills, that was his prerogative. Melissa didn't have to know everything.

"So how is Virgil?" It was a quiet question as she picked up her own cup of tea.

He eyed her a moment. He was well aware of her attraction to his brother. Gordon had made a point of stirring Virgil until his quiet brother had clapped him around the ears.

"He's recovering. I'll be happier when he is home."

She eyed him as if considering whether she should breach a topic or not. Something flickered in her eyes. "How goes Tracy Island? Is the regrowth flourishing as we hoped?"

He thought back at the tracts of native vegetation his father had planted all those years ago, mostly on the other side of the island, though some covered scars from the IR excavations. The pōhutukawa and palm trees seemed to be okay, but his mind was usually on other things when he ran past them.

He shook his head. "To be honest, I don't know. You could ask Gordon?"

She peered closer at him. "Are you okay?"

He straightened where he sat. "I'm good." He stretched. "Got any recommendations for a good place to run? Need to stretch my legs."

She swallowed the last of her drink. "I can show you."

"No need, just point me in the right direction and I'll find my way."

A snort. "You're not on Tracy Island, Commander. No visitors go unaccompanied on Raoul, remember. You've got a choice between me and Sam." A smirk. "And you won't get much distance out of him unless you prefer swimming."

Internally he groaned. He had been looking forward to time alone.

"I can show you around the crater rim. You'll get a great workout."

The thought of finding the physical relief was just too tempting. The hike up the hill had been a teaser and he wanted more. He sculled the last of his tea. "Fine. Lead the way." He hoped she could keep up.

Her smile was a challenge in itself. "I'll go grab my running gear. Meet you out front in ten."

"FAB."

-o-o-o-

Gordon watched as Scott stood up, brushed past Virgil and said something, before following Mel out the door.

"Do you think Virgil would be willing to talk about his experience?"

Gordon glanced at Sam and then eyed his artist brother. His linen shirt was tight across his shoulders as the man hunched over his coffee. "I don't know."

"Can you ask?" Sam was all eagerness. It was understandable. The surfer had made cetaceans his life's work and this was a fantastic opportunity.

A sucked in breath. "Leave it with me, I'll see what I can do."

-o-o-o-

John, drink in hand, had taken the opportunity to find himself a vantage point on the cliff. The island was very quiet, even quieter than Tracy Island was at times and considerably bigger.

He appreciated the solitude. He was truly enjoying the time with his brothers, but it was nice to step away for a little time.

He parked himself in the long grass at the edge of the bluff and stared out into the blue of the Pacific.

An idle thought.

"Eos?"

"Hello, John."

"Hello, Eos. Status?"

"All emergency calls are being fielded by the appropriate agencies. Mr Lemaire has entombed himself in ice at the South Pole in an attempt to locate Santa Claus. I have advised the GDF. He is safe and secure for the moment."

John's thoughts locked up for a second. "The South Pole? Santa Claus lives in the North Pole."

"Ignoring the fact that Santa Claus is a myth, Mr Lemaire claimed that 'the North Pole is an ocean and only an idiot would build a house on an ice floe that melts every summer, therefore he must be hidden at the South Pole.' He planned to be the first human to interview the father of Christmas and used a specialised drilling machine to dig into the ice…which promptly collapsed on him twenty metres down."

John sighed. "You are sure he is safe?"

"Colonel Casey has sent a specialist team. He and his wife have enough survival supplies to make it through to New Year's if necessary."

"Monitor the situation. Call us in only if there is no alternative." A trip to the South Pole was something they did not need.

"FAB, John."

"And how are you?"

"I am functioning well."

"Do you have any results from the problem I set you?"

"I have analysed three thousand two hundred and twenty-three recordings of humpback whale communications. Unfortunately, many of the recordings are missing the lower frequencies as the equipment used was not sufficient. I do have some translation possibilities, however I am still calculating multiple variables and am hesitant to postulate a theory."

He had expected as much. She had only been working on it for a few hours. "Are you enjoying the work?" To be honest, he wasn't expecting a positive result. It did, however, keep a bored AI occupied.

"It is very interesting. Virgil's response shows no pattern relative to the language he was attempting to respond to, yet he received a result."

"I suspect there is an element of synergy in the language that enables it to become more than a sum of its parts. Perhaps that is what Virgil was able to tap into."

"I'm not sure what you mean, John."

John sucked in a breath. "You are a computer program, yet you are more than lines of code, you are a person. Correct?"

"Yes."

"Perhaps this language is a step beyond simple complexity. Perhaps the elements combined create a new level of communication? One that is not entirely on the conscious level."

His daughter was silent for a moment. "How does interpretation differ between the human conscious and subconscious? The literature claims a lack of cognitive recognition of events created or observed subconsciously. How could Virgil create something he is not aware of?"

"There is much we do not yet understand. The human subconscious is well known for gathering multiple observed factors and combining them into instinct, all without conscious control. Perhaps you should explore that region of research?" Come to think of it, Virgil's instincts in the field were very sharp. There were multiple examples of his brother acting against orders and ultimately saving lives that otherwise would have been lost, including those of his brothers.

"I will, John, thank you."

"You are welcome." His lips curled into a smile. "Enjoy yourself."

-o-o-o-

It was amazing to finally get his feet moving.

Scott's shoes pounded volcanic dust and rock so familiar it was almost as if he was home. A regular thud-thud-thud, the sea breeze, the rock, the vegetation…energy flowed through him and was used, muscles firing, skin tingling in the afternoon air. God, it was so good to get out.

Melissa said nothing to him beyond directing which path to take. She had removed her DOC uniform, reducing her clothing to a tight crop top, shorts and running shoes, and if he was honest, he had to admit he was appreciating the view.

The woman was all slim muscle. Tight waist, lightly browned skin. Her pale hair bounced behind her in a hastily tied ponytail and he found himself following it as she leapt from path to rock and over logs.

She had no trouble keeping up. In fact, it was more the other way around. He had to work to keep up with her, despite the difference in stride. She knew exactly where she was going and she was offering no handicap.

They pushed up a steep incline for some time. She had taken them off the main track and deep into the forest. Birds sung all around and the wind rustled through the blossoming trees. The pōhutukawa were in their brilliant crimson Christmas flowers, festooning the island as if to decorate for the season.

Grandma loved the pōhutukawa trees on Tracy Island and was in fact the only reason he knew the name of the plant. She cut flowers every year for their Christmas table to acknowledge the beautiful piece of land they lived on.

They reminded him of home.

This whole island reminded him of home.

Melissa ran around a particularly large tree and he followed only to come to a screeching halt as the path suddenly changed direction. A huge crater appeared in front of him.

Melissa was running on the spot. She nodded down at the lake at the bottom of the volcanic bowl. "Blue Lake."

And it was.

A stunning, almost unnatural cobalt blue. He stared down at it, panting from his exertions. His thin grey tank top clung to his sweaty body.

She grinned at him before darting off along the crater rim.

Hmmm. An indrawn breath and he took off after her.

The crater wasn't massive on a volcanic scale, but it was impressive nonetheless. The late afternoon sun shadowed the mountain, emphasising the extremes of the landscape.

"The far lake is Green Lake." Melissa had stopped and was running on the spot again. A fine sheen of perspiration glistened on her skin.

He did know the geography, he had flown over the island often enough, but this perspective was considerably different. "It's beautiful." Not unlike its caretaker.

The random thought shook him out of contemplation and forced himself to look out at the smaller green lake in the distance.

Where the hell had that come from? A sideways glance in her direction and he found her gaze caught on the spectacle before them, her love for the island obvious.

Well, he had to admit that he did have his own island love. Just not this island.

"C'mon, slow poke, let's up the pace." And she darted off into the forest again.

Really?

Thighs pumping, he followed her under the trees, down the slope a little before he found himself climbing again.

She called back to him from several metres in front. "Got a full body workout coming up. I hope you're up to it." Her grin bounced down the mountain and off his head.

She was challenging him? Well, he had been known to hang off rocket ships and climb vertical cliff faces. Bring it on.

She did.

The path dissolved. There was no other real word for it. It became a mass of black jagged volcanic rocks, interspersed with tree regrowth.

"This was dumped here last time Virgil yanked us off the Island." Her words were interspersed with harsh breathing as she clambered over the obstacle. As he climbed the crater once again came into view and the scar in the side of the mountain became clear.

Wow.

There was a swath of dead forest dotted with regrowth. He remembered Virgil's report. The footage had involved billowing smoke and steam, but his brother had confined most of his readings to the encampment, his concern more for the lives endangered than any geological happenings. Brains had taken readings and read GeoNet's reports as he did for any activity on the Kermadec Ridge, but he had reported it small and unremarkable.

Looked far more remarkable in person.

Melissa reached the top of the pile of rock and finally stopped.

He was grateful. The woman knew how to push it. He clambered up the last few and stood next to her.

The view was magnificent.

"She risks our lives, but I have to say she is beautiful." Her love was there again, in her eyes. It was a similar expression to what he saw on Gordon's face when he stared out across the ocean.

"You love this island." It wasn't a question.

She turned to stare at him and he realised that her eyes were a startling multi-coloured grey. "I love this place. It's mountains, its plants, its ocean, its everything. It is one of the truly saved places on our planet. There aren't many left." She shrugged. "I'm just lucky to be able to experience it and contribute my little bit of help."

He snorted. "Even I know what you are doing is anything but little. You've expanded the Sanctuary by hundreds of kilometres since you've been here."

Her gaze turned back to him. "You've been reading up on me?"

Half a grin. "I like to know who I am dealing with."

She arched an eyebrow. "And what did you find, Commander?"

His smile spread. "Someone remarkable."

-o-o-o-

Virgil hid for the rest of the afternoon. He slunk away to the hostel, found himself a bed and curled up. At some point, he heard a brother open the door to the communal room and another brother, Alan maybe, mutter something, but they went away and he was glad for it.

The wood of the building creaked in the sun and birds squawked almost continually, but despite, or perhaps because of the soundscape, he fell into a much better sleep than he had had the entire week. Deep and complete.

The sun was heading towards the horizon when he woke, yellowing rays cutting across the hostel windows, turning the white paintwork gold.

Gordon was in the room, fossicking through a bag. "G'don?" He blinked and screwed up his face.

"Hey, Virg! Sorry, did I wake you?"

"No. Don't think so?"

"How are you feeling?"

Virgil rolled over and pushed himself up, sitting on the side of the bed. He rubbed his hands over his face. "Okay, I guess."

His brother snorted. "I'll ask you again in half an hour after coffee and brain activation."

The grunt he sent in the aquanaut's direction only proved his point.

"Sam is very interested in what you did today."

Crap. Another grunt.

That earned him a querying look. Virgil had no idea what his brother expected. If a simple question about how he was feeling was a stumbler, the complex concepts involving what had happened earlier in the day were a complete brain fry.

"You up for dinner?" Gordon was suddenly sitting on the bed next to him. When had he moved? "Sam's dragged out the barbecue. Claims he wants to test the theory of 'throwing a prawn on the barbie'. Apparently, as an Australian he's never cooked a shrimp on a barbecue before." As if to punctuate the statement, the smell of cooking meat wafted in through the window.

Virgil stared at his brother.

"They had to import the shrimp for Christmas."

The staring continued.

"They're throwing a party because we're here and using their Christmas supplies to do it…why the hell are you staring at me like that?"

Virgil didn't answer him. He just wrapped an arm around him and hugged Gordon to his side.

His brother didn't resist, but did look at him strangely. "You okay?"

"I'm good."

Gordon didn't say anything further and for a moment they sat there together.

Virgil's stomach rumbled.

Gordon snorted. "C'mon, bro, food awaits." He slipped Virgil's hold and, turning around, offered him a hand up.

Without another word, Virgil took it and stood up beside his brother, his hand landing on his shoulder and squeezing.

That earned him another questioning look, but he ignored it.

The grassed central area of the compound had been transformed both by the golden sunlight and the lights strung between the trees. Sam was standing in front of a sizzling barbecue, someone Virgil didn't know, laughing and holding him close. Alan and John were deep in discussion with another new person. All three of them had drinks in hand. John's hair flickered about as if it was on fire, the sun catching it as the breeze tossed it around. And Scott…

Virgil stared.

Scott was laughing his ass off.

With Melissa Fisher.

The two of them sat beside each other in a couple of deck chairs. His brother appearing more relaxed than Virgil had seen him in a long time.

"What happened?" It came out without thought.

"They went for a run. Came back friendly as can be. I think Scott may have fallen for her charms."

Charms? The woman was a handful. Virgil wasn't afraid to admit he found her a challenge. Her gratitude the last time he had airlifted her and her squad of staff and volunteers off Raoul had been…exuberant.

If Kayo hadn't escorted her out of his cockpit, he wasn't sure what he would have done. As it was, Gordon had ribbed him until he cracked and thwapped him one.

But Scott seemed almost enthusiastic. Despite himself, Virgil broke into a grin.

Gordon echoed it. "Yeah, it's great to finally see him relaxing."

Quiet. "Yes. Yes, it is."

Gordon grabbed his arm and nudged him in the direction of a table piled with food and drink. "Let's get you fuelled up so I can introduce you to Liam and Elspeth."

Coffee, as always, solved a lot of problems and, hugging his mug like the lifeline it was, Virgil was introduced to Sam's husband.

Liam turned out to be a meteorologist. Raoul was not only important as a wildlife sanctuary, but also supported this corner of the Pacific's meteorological station, providing atmospheric readings crucial to both weather and climate studies.

Having no shortage of interest in weather conditions, both as a pilot and a rescue operative who often found himself in the extremes of all kinds of those conditions, Virgil fell into in a very interesting discussion regarding navigating tropical cyclones.

In appearance, Liam was taller than Sam, blond and much more reserved than his husband. Hell, it was almost like someone had grabbed John and Gordon, thrown their physical characteristics in a blender and then assembled Liam and Sam. Liam even had a similar flick of blond hair on his forehead that John had in his red hair.

Almost in contrast, where Liam was pale and tall, Elspeth was dark and petite. Long plaited black hair hung to her waist, her features in shades of sepia. The artist in him was quite drawn to her.

But not as much as his two starbound brothers, because Elspeth was an astronomer. She and Liam had been on the other side of the island earlier in the day collecting readings from the observatory. Something about a rogue object passing through the Solar System. Virgil lost the discussion at some point between the Oort cloud and the orbit of Jupiter. He kept getting distracted by Scott laughing.

Virgil hadn't heard his brother laugh so freely in a long time. Melissa appeared to be enjoying herself. It was as if a bubble had surrounded them and cut them off from everyone else. Stuck in their own happy little world.

An irrational spark of envy and the inevitable smirk at his brother deploying his well-played charms were all completely smothered by the happiness he felt seeing Scott finally relaxing and enjoying himself.

As the evening became night, Virgil continued to hover on the edges of conversation, more Gordon, Sam and Liam than John, Alan and Elspeth. The latter group's discussion had dissolved into equations and while Virgil loved a good piece of math like any engineer, theoreticals were more than he was willing to think about right at the moment.

The food was delicious and he complimented Sam thoroughly. Liam smiled and waxed poetic about some of the meals his husband had cooked in the past. Sam blushed appropriately red on several occasions, setting Gordon off into ribbing the poor man.

A thumb in Gordon's direction. "Ignore him, he's just jealous. There are days on end where we don't get time to cook a decent meal."

"You don't have a cook?" Sam was frowning.

"We have Grandma." Gordon was smiling ruefully.

"She's a good cook?"

Virgil cut in. "Grandma is the backbone of International Rescue."

"Your grandmother works with you?"

"Often, yes."

"A truly family business."

"Yes, it is."

The conversation fell quiet a moment and Virgil took a swig of the beer in his hand.

"So, how did you become a cetacean biologist?"

Sam's eyes widened. "Oh, um, had an encounter, fell in love, now devoted to them forever."

Liam snorted. "He asked about you and whales, not for our love story."

His husband shrugged. "Pretty much the same story really. Found myself in dire straits off Waitpinga Beach while surfing, dolphin saved me."

Gordon had obviously heard the story before. He grinned. "For a surfer, you really are crap at surfing."

"It's all about the image, Gordo. You know that." But Sam was grinning as much as Gordon. "But on a more serious note," and the grin turned into a mock glare at Virgil's brother, "she saved my life. It was a big, life changing moment. Been saving the whales ever since."

"I can understand that." All the Tracys could understand that.

Sam sparked up, all eagerness and bright eyes. "So, you spoke to a whale today?"

-o-o-o-

End Day Three, Part Four


	11. Day Three - Pt5

Title: We'll be home for Christmas

Day Three - If not for the courage of the fearless crew – Part 5

Author: Gumnut

4 - 11 Jan 2020

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: The boys can't fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way.

Word count: 3231

Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Artist!Virgil, Minor various ships, mostly background.

Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos we haven't seen it yet.

Author's note: For scattergraph. This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic :D

Took me a while with work getting in the way and a stubborn muse that just wouldn't behave, but here is the next bit. I hope you enjoy it.

Many thanks to vegetacide and scribbles97 for cheering me on and their wonderful support through this craziness. And to onereyofstarlight for geeking out with me over the setting.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

"So, you spoke to a whale today?"

Gordon elbowed the surfer in the ribs. "Sam!"

"Hey, it's the elephant on the island, I just want to acknowledge it."

A sigh and Virgil held up his hand. "It's okay, what did you want to know?"

"How did you do it? Many have tried before and none succeeded."

Quiet. "I don't know."

There was a silence after that, Sam staring at him.

"Then how?"

"I'm sorry, Sam, I honestly don't know. It just happened."

"Do you think you could do it again?"

Virgil stared at him. "I-"

"Sam! Leave it." Gordon's voice was cutting.

The surfer frowned and held up his hands defensively. "Sorry."

Virgil reached out a hand and placed it on Gordon's shoulder. His fish brother was still glaring at the surfer. "It's fine. But I'm sorry, Sam, I don't have the answers right now."

Sam held his gaze for the next few moments. Quiet. "You felt it, didn't you? You weren't in the water, but you felt it. The connection."

Sam's eyes weren't the same colour as Gordon's, closer to John's or Scott's being a pale green-blue, but they sparked with as much vivacity and energy as his fish brother on his inspired days.

Virgil frowned. "What do you mean?"

"That dolphin, the one who saved me? There was a moment where I thought that this was it, I was going to drown, there was nothing but the blue of the sea left and I was almost welcoming the end, I was that exhausted. But then she was there, she was lifting me, nudging me towards the sun. I felt her skin under my fingers. She spoke to me in high pitched barks. And her eyes. Those eyes pierced me to my soul." The surfer swallowed and looked away a moment. Liam reached over and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, rubbing gently. "He or she...she was there and she was communicating in a way I could not understand, but communicating nonetheless and for a moment, I connected. I knew what she wanted me to do and I made that extra effort." Another pause and Sam looked down at his hands. "She carried my exhausted ass into shore as far as she could go. I managed to get my feet under me and she disappeared into the waves. I never saw her again." Sam straightened and caught Virgil's eyes. "But for that moment, I understood. She communicated on my level and gave me a gift I will be trying to repay for the rest of my life." Those eyes held him. "It was the same for you wasn't it. They got inside you, reached in and tied knots in your soul."

There was a stunned silence after that. Virgil was still held by the passion in the man's eyes, but what he said rang so true, it bounced off the back of his skull and down his throat into his heart.

"I save people." The words fell out of his mouth, dry and parched. "It's what I do." He swallowed as Sam continued to stare at him with that expectant gaze. His mind was a turbulent mess, thoughts churning with emotion and images and sound.

Notes cascaded through the back of his mind, pain-filled cries that could only be answered from inside.

His fingers twitched with a sudden need for his keyboard as if to answer the man through his fingers.

A smaller hand wrapped around those fingers and he startled, turning his head to find Gordon's familiar russet eyes frowning at him in concern. His brother's hand felt ever so small in his, but its warmth buzzed with energy. "Virgil?"

Clearing his throat, Virgil straightened in his seat. "Yeah, I felt it. A...a connection."

"You understand? You get it?" Sam's eyes were wide and once again he was almost bouncing. Liam still had his arm around his husband and appeared to be literally holding him in his seat.

"I get it."

His brother's fingers tightened around his.

-o-o-o-

Gordon stared at his artistic brother and saw the struggle behind the man's eyes. Something was freaking him out. Had been ever since the rescue. It was somewhat alarming to see his usually unflappable and calm brother so suddenly at a loss as to what to do with himself.

"Virgil, you don't have to talk about this if you don't want to."

Gordon knew for a fact that there were several aspects of the rescue he had no wish to share with anyone. The emotion in those gorgeous eyes, the pain, the pleading, the touch of soft skin beneath his fingertips. He kept those moments close to his heart, deep inside, cherished and safe.

Virgil...was his artistic brother. He saw things differently...this was the only way Gordon could explain it. He couldn't understand it, but then understanding wasn't needed, only acceptance. Virgil saw things in a way that enabled him to transform his interpretations into art and music. Today, he had somehow transformed emotion into sound, and it had cost...something.

Virgil frowned, looking down at a random spot in the middle of the table before straightening again and facing Sam head on. "What do you know about humpback whale communication?"

Sam's face split into a grin. "A lot. I know a lot. I have access to all the studies done with the Kermadec whales and all the literature from elsewhere."

Gordon's mind quite easily supplied a few sources Sam didn't have access to, but John or Eos could get their grotty little paws into. He might have to have a chat with Johnny over the next couple of days.

"I would be very interested in learning more." Virgil's fingers were twitching again. Gordon frowned down at them. It wasn't random, more like a beat.

Sam's grin grew wide enough to take in half the island. "That's great. I would love to help you with that."

Gordon's eyes bounced back and forth between his brother and his friend. He'd known Sam for years. They had met during WASP training, but Sam had washed out when both the erratic wannabe surfer and his superiors agreed that WASP was not a good career choice. Gordon had lost contact for a short period of time and then encountered him again as an undergraduate working alongside WASP in undersea agriculture. Gordon had picked up his degree with WASP, but then was lured into marine biology even further by the blooming cetacean biologist. Gordon's specialities were much broader, and tended towards marine ecosystems as a whole. Sam, of course, focussed on cetaceans and the larger creatures of the deep. By the time Gordon relocated to Tracy Island, Sam was following the great ocean behemoths all over the planet.

It was just convenient that those behemoths passed through the Kermadecs on a regular basis, because once Sam met Liam, he chose to specialise in those particular whales and relocated to Raoul. He still disappeared every now and again, chasing a migration here or there, but his base was Raoul and Gordon loved having not only Mel nearby, but Sam for a neighbour as well.

This was the first time any of his brothers had met the man. Last time the Raoul resident volcano had thrown a fit, Sam and Liam had been off site, a fact that had been a relief to Gordon, but consequently, Virgil hadn't met him...and Gordon had been too busy ribbing Virgil about Mel.

A glance in the direction of where he had last seen Scott found the chairs empty and neither his big brother or Mel anywhere to be seen.

Hmmm...

But then he realised that both John and Alan were missing as well, along with Elspeth.

The impromptu party was empty except for himself, Virgil, Sam and Liam. Where the hell had everyone gone?

-o-o-o-

Alan was enjoying a rare moment with his space brother.

It had started with a polite conversation with Elspeth about their individual interests. Elspeth was somewhat a rarity in that she was a fully ground-based astronomer. Apparently, her body couldn't tolerate either zero-g or strong g-forces, so she couldn't go into space.

Of course, she still had access to orbital and interplanetary telescopes, so she could get the specific data she was looking for, but to be confined to the planet...? Alan found the concept horrifying.

To not be able to experience the rush of launch, the relief of zero-g and to see that blue marble...it wasn't for him and to be honest, he dreaded the day he could no longer launch his 'bird into the sky.

John was polite, but Alan could see his big brother had a similar reaction. Neither of them liked to think that one day, space might be denied them. It didn't help that neither of them had been up in the last fortnight. Alan knew John was missing Five and Eos and while Alan himself was based on Tracy Island, his love of space was no less a passion.

He missed it.

So as the night wore on and Elspeth eventually excused herself, Scott disappeared with Mel, and since the deep conversation Virgil and Gordon were involved in reeked of exclusivity, Alan suggested to his brother that they do a little stargazing.

He was quite happy when John agreed.

This boat trip had given them more time together in one rush than they'd had in months, possibly years. Sure a good part of that had involved a violent competition of skill as he fought his brother to become master of the universe, but it had been good nonetheless.

They didn't go far, mindful of the restrictions placed on visitors to the island, but behind one of the buildings, between it and the sea, they found a dark spot filled with stars.

The grass was long and it cushioned his body as he lay back. Orion and the Southern Cross hung in the sky. His mind automatically calculated exactly where each of the major satellites sat in their orbits and where John's beloved Five hovered far above them.

"How's Eos?"

John sighed. "I have her on a project." His brother was hidden in the shadows, but his voice was clear and confident in the dark. "She's listening to whale song."

Alan frowned. "Why?"

"I assume you saw Virgil's reaction to today's rescue?"

"Well, yeah, he's been weird ever since."

Another sigh from his big brother. "I just thought Eos might be able to shed some light on what happened."

"Why Eos? What would she know about whales?"

"Alan, don't underestimate her."

"I wasn't. I just don't see how she could help."

"She's a sentient artificial intelligence. The humpback whale is another intelligence. Both are different from our own. This is an opportunity to see if she might interpret things differently and be able to translate what we, so far, have been unable to."

"Oh, okay." He still wasn't entirely clear on how Eos could see anything different, but if John thought she might, there had to be a chance. John was the resident genius around here, after all. "You think it will help Virgil?"

"I don't know. Maybe." His brother's shadow shrugged and lay down in the grass. "It is so quiet here."

"Uh huh."

And they sat for a while and just stared up into the cosmos and counting shooting stars.

"What did you want for Christmas, Alan?"

His brother's voice startled him out of his thoughts. "Wha-?"

"It's Christmas day after next."

"Well, yeah."

"I was just wondering if you had any last minute additions to your Christmas wish list."

"John, I haven't had a Christmas wish list since I discovered you guys were Santa Claus and wouldn't give me a rocket ship for Christmas."

His brother snorted. "You had plenty of rocket ships for Christmas."

"A real one."

"You fly a real one, Alan. You got your wish eventually."

Okay, so that was true, but honestly discovering Scott and Virgil stashing presents under the Christmas tree at 2am had been a traumatic experience for a nine year old.

"Yeah, well, what more could I ask for? I've got everything possible."

His brother fell silent and Alan regretted it immediately, the not-possible list included things that his older brothers wanted more than anything to give him. To give themselves.

"I mean, I've got you guys. We're billionaires. We do great stuff. Really, we've got pretty much everything." How could he say this? "Like, don't get me wrong, I love the stuff you guys give me, it's just, there are more important things, you know?"

"I know." John's voice was quiet.

They fell silent again.

"So you don't want that portrait of you Virgil has finally finished?"

"He finished it?!"

John snorted. "Maybe."

"Is it good?"

"Are you kidding me?"

"Well, there was last time."

"You asked for that."

"I did not!"

"Even I could see from space you were being a right prod."

"I was a little enthusiastic, that's all."

"You were being an idiot."

"He painted a Salvador Dali of my head!"

"Do you even know who Salvador Dali is?"

"No, but Scott was very descriptive!"

Another snort. "Does Scott know who Salvador Dali is?"

Alan pulled out his phone and lit up the dark as he pulled up a net search. The images associated with the name were weird, but strangely interesting. "I see the resemblance."

"You should check out Van Gogh, then."

"What? Why? Isn't he the guy with the missing ear?"

How did he know John was rolling his eyes when he couldn't see them?

"Just look him up." There was that annoying tolerant tone his older brothers often used on him.

"Fine." So he did. "Really?" His brother had painted his last portrait attempt...before Max destroyed it - the fallout from that had been massive - in a very similar style to the ear guy. "Why?"

"You would have to ask Virgil that question."

Alan stared at several of Van Gogh's self-portraits and their swirly paint marks. It was nothing like the style Virgil had used to paint the whales. Had his brother been mocking him again?

Ah, who knows.

But John had indicated that Virgil might have finished his latest painting...

Another shooting star tore across the sky.

"So what do you what for Christmas?" Fair's fair that he ask his brother the same question in return.

John sighed. "To be honest, I think I've already got it."

"What?"

"Time."

"Huh?"

"Grandma was right. We needed time."

"You wanted to be grounded for Christmas?"

"No. But this has been good."

"Being stuck on a boat together?"

Quiet. "Yeah. I know it hasn't been your thing-"

"Hey, I love you guys. It's you who can't seem to stay with us any length of time."

Oh, um, he hadn't meant to say that.

"Alan?"

"Well, you are always going back up to Five early. We hardly ever see you anymore. I know the gravity thing sucks, but I miss you."

"You can always visit me."

"I do, but the rest of the guys can't always do that."

"Because we are always busy. Grandma saw that and that's why she grounded us."

"You didn't go willingly."

"No."

"Yet now you agree with her."

"Hindsight is twenty-twenty."

The silence fell again along with two more meteors. Alan briefly wondered if the object Elspeth had been tracking through the solar system was increasing the Earth's meteoroid collection at the moment. It would be an interesting topic of discussion in the morning if it was. "Eos on meteor watch?"

"As always and yes, there has been a small increase, but she reports nothing of concern."

It was always convenient to have an eye in the sky for such random questions.

Conversation fell into a lull at that point, both brothers happy to just stare up into the sky. Alan was at the point of almost nodding off, when they were interrupted by the sound of footsteps on grass.

"Hey, guys, watcha doin'?"

Gordon.

"What does it look like?" Was it wrong to feel interrupted and a little possessive of his time with John?

"Ooh, excuse me. Virgil and I will just go our merry way elsewhere then."

"Hey!" Yes, John, ever considerate of his brothers then proceeded to invite them to their patch of grass. Apparently, Sam and Liam had called it a night and their two brothers had consequently come looking for their missing brothers.

Gordon parked his butt right next to Alan as Virgil lowered himself with a sigh on the other side of John. His spacebro muttered some concern at the convalescent which was replied with the mandatory 'I'm fine!' God, the guy needed a t-shirt with those words printed on it. One that glowed in the dark for all occasions.

"So, you guys talking balls of burning gas?"

"Beware, Gordon knows how to manage gas." It was dry and came from the Virgil shaped shadow now stretched out on the grass.

"God, yeah, tell me about it. I was trapped with him on Three for a month once, remember? This is why you don't see me in Four unless I'm drowning." He loved Gordon, but that month had been...um.

"Are you saying I stink?"

"Yeah! Do you have any idea what all that canned cheese does to your digestive system?"

-o-o-o-

John had to smile. The silence of the stars was shattered with the addition of extra brothers. The distant and giant balls of gas still shone down on him, but his soundscape was no longer lacking.

"Where's Scott?" Virgil's voice was quiet on his right.

"Disappeared with Ms Fisher about an hour ago. I think we may be looking at number thirty-three."

"Thirty-five."

"Fine, count the goose, but I don't know where you are getting the other missing number from."

"You don't need to know."

"Virgil?"

A snort. "Don't worry about it. This is Scott we're talking about. He has his own stress relief methods."

"Which reminds me, you owe me fifty bucks."

"Nah, you cheated."

"Cheated?"

"You stole his phone."

"On orders from Grandma."

"Yeah, well, that accelerated the issue to your advantage. I'm calling foul."

"Sore loser."

"Cheater."

"Such a harsh word."

"Wear it."

"Double or nothing on tomorrow morning's contented smile?"

"Are you kidding? No contest. More a bet on how often he visits Raoul or how soon Ms Fisher gets invited to Tracy Island."

He frowned. "Why would Scott invite her home? He's never invited a date home before."

"The fact we don't find that unusual is disturbing in itself." Virgil's words were little more than a grumble. "Never before has an 'interest' been so close to home and so well known."

"Okay, one hundred dollars says he doesn't invite her over in the next month."

"Deal." Virgil's voice dropped to a whisper. "Another fifty says Gordo freaks out."

John snorted. "Sure. Your loss."

Another shooting star shot across the sky as the argument about gas and cheese beside them shot into beans and brie territory and the possibility that Gordon may be lactose intolerant.

This was followed by the concept that Alan may be Gordon intolerant.

John smiled and, as he heard a laugh from his right, he concluded that yes, despite the day's challenges and Virgil's illness, this trip had been a great present and he was a bit sad that tomorrow would see an end to it.

-o-o-o-

End Day Three


	12. Day Four - Pt1

Title: We'll be home for Christmas

Day Four – Five Billionaires and No Wives – Part 1

Author: Gumnut

11 - 29 Jan 2020

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: The boys can't fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way.

Word count: 3098

Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Artist!Virgil, Minor various ships, mostly background.

Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos we haven't seen it yet.

Author's note: For scattergraph. This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic :D

It took ages, I'm sorry, work and an evil muse are to blame. But here be the next bit and I'm happy to have the story moving again. Hopefully I can get this done before Easter ::headdesk:: I hope you enjoy this anyway.

Many thanks to vegetacide and scribbles97 for cheering me on and their wonderful support through this craziness. And to onereyofstarlight for geeking out with me over the setting.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

**Day Four - Five Billionaires and No Wives**

Virgil woke in bed the next morning with no memory of how he got there.

"Good morning, Virgil."

"John?" His brother was sitting calmly in his pyjamas several beds over. Virgil blinked. He hadn't drunk that much alcohol last night had he? Last he remembered was lying on the grass with... "Did I fall asleep-?"

The door slammed as Gordon strode in, interrupting the quiet. "Under the stars, bro, snoring like a freight train. I wanted to leave you out there. Would have had more sleep if we did, but goodie-two-shoes Johnny here had us carry your butt to bed." Gordon had obviously been up early and was dressed in his swimwear, a towel slung over his shoulder. "I'm going down for a swim, wanna come?"

Virgil just stared at his little brother, his pre-coffee brain struggling to put that rush of information together.

Gordon blinked. "Okay, I will ask you that question again later, post-coffee. How about you, John? Want to do some floating Earthside?"

John tilted his head in acknowledgement. "Sure. I'll see you down there shortly."

Russet brown eyes darted between John and Virgil. "You gonna keep an eye on this one? I haven't seen hide or hair of Scott yet, Alan's run off with Elspeth, and Sam and Liam are heading out with me."

"I don't need babysitting." He had enough neurons to put that sentence together.

Gordon snorted. "I remember saying exactly the same thing a couple of months ago and you picking me off the couch anyway."

"You did need babysitting. Still do." Virgil threw off the covers and found he was still dressed in the shorts from yesterday, but his shirt was missing. Okay, his brothers were the best.

"Yeah, well, it took three of us to pick you up and carry you up here."

"Shows all three of you need to work out more."

"Or you need to eat less."

"There is nothing wrong with my weight. It is all muscle." He patted his belly and suddenly remembered why that wasn't a good thing to do. Ow.

"You idiot." Gordon was smiling and frowning at the same time.

John rolled his eyes. "Okay, Gordon, I'll meet you down there in about half an hour. I think our big brother needs some 'sitting'."

Virgil glared at both of them as he rolled to sit on the edge of the bed. Gordon was still grinning when he made his way over and offered his brother a hand to pull him upright. Another glare, but Virgil didn't say anything, just took Gordon's hand and pulled himself up with a grunt.

"Yep, definitely need to eat less."

"Gordon-"

"Yeah, well, I'm off for a swim." He patted Virgil on the back. "Have fun on the flying fox, bro."

Wha-? Oh, the zip line.

Virgil was not fast enough to clap his brother around the ears and Gordon danced out of the room laughing.

"Little shit."

John snorted. "Yeah, but you've got to love him."

"Hmm, maybe."

That only prompted John to snort again. "You need a hand with your shower?"

"No, I'm good."

"In that case, I'll go find us some breakfast."

"Coffee?"

"And, yes, Virgil some coffee. Now go wash up, you stink."

"Hey!"

But his smart-ass brother just pinched his nose and made a point of walking past the end of Virgil's bed and bee-lining for the door.

"You're an ass."

"Hee-haw."

-o-o-o-

A shower freshened him up and Virgil finally communed with his coffee out on the green. The day had woken with blue skies and glass ocean. They had been so lucky with the weather it was almost too good to be true. The pessimist in him idly threw up the idea of a cyclone between here and Tracy Island and he had to mentally kick himself for even thinking of it.

Because of his recent surgery, Virgil was unable to go swimming, but he chose to climb down to the beach with them anyway. John hovered like crazy because despite Gordon's smart ass remarks, there was no zip line down to Oneraki Beach and Virgil found himself climbing down a quite steep embankment. But he took it carefully and made it onto the sand in one piece. If he was honest, he was not looking forward to climbing back up.

Fortunately, Scott was nowhere to be seen, so when he took a much needed seat in an offered deck chair, only John was there to hover over him.

Despite his brothers' concerns he wasn't stupid and he took the time to rest in the chair and give his hampered body a chance to recover.

"Are you sure you are okay?"

Virgil glared at John.

His younger brother held up his hands defensively. "Okay, okay, I get it. Since you are absolutely fine, I'm going in for a dip. Yell, if you need any of us."

The glare became flat-eyed. "Will do."

"Good." John spun on his heel and jogged down the beach to the surf.

Trust him to have the last word. John wasn't one to be trifled with. All the brothers knew that. While Virgil might dismissively tell Gordon or Alan to shut up, you never did that to John. You'd be risking a communications blackout isolating you from the rest of the world. His little brother was smart and kind, but he demanded and got the respect he deserved.

Not that Virgil would ever give him any less, it was just that John was a quiet one and the quiet ones were the dangerous ones.

Gordon, Sam and Liam were already in the water and it was abundantly clear that Gordon's assessment of Sam's surfing skills was accurate. The man fell off his board more than he stayed on it. He was even wearing some kind of specialised artificial foot, but it didn't seem to help.

The amusing thing was that he didn't seem to care either. He appeared to be having the time of his life either on the water or upside down in it.

The laughter bouncing across the waves from the three men was infectious and Virgil found himself grinning and wishing he could join them.

John found himself a quiet area of the beach and began swimming laps beyond the swell. Virgil might have been worried about sharks out here, but they were all familiar enough with the marine environment and Gordon was pedantic about their shark deterrent wrist bands.

Virgil, of course, was wary of his. He might not be a shark, but the wristband was a creepy thing. There had been discussions.

But today he didn't have to worry about it, because he couldn't go in the water anyway.

For a while, he just sat and enjoyed the morning. There was barely any breeze, the ocean was as glass as an open ocean could get, he had nowhere he had to be, nowhere he had to rush. Hell, he was tempted to snooze right there and then.

That thought snapped him out of it. He hadn't had any decent exercise all week. He was turning into a slob. Now would probably a good time to get started on a little rehab.

He eyed the far end of the beach. A walk couldn't hurt could it?

Pushing himself carefully out of the chair and catching his footing on the dark volcanic sand, he stepped carefully down into the damp zone and started off at a gentle pace.

He had no plans to go any great distance, just towards the end of the beach. He wouldn't be out of sight so he wouldn't be breaking any rules of wandering off without an attendant.

A step or two more and he carefully reached down and removed his sandals.

His feet sunk into the fine dark sand and he closed his eyes for just a moment revelling in the feel of it between his toes. How long had it been since he had stood on a beach? Too busy. Too long.

He let all the breath out of his body and gently inhaled anew.

Wriggling his toes, he grinned to himself and started walking.

-o-o-o-

Gordon was having a great time. Sam and Liam were just good guys to mess around with. They had lent him a spare surfboard and they spent some time chasing the quiet swell. Sam spent most of it under the water, but since that was his native environment, he didn't appear to care.

Liam had much more skill than Sam on a board and between him and Gordon, a good-natured rivalry began as to who could catch the most waves.

Liam won, but Gordon was laughing anyway and, to be honest, he wasn't really trying. He was just enjoying the freedom and the lack of responsibility.

John joined them after a decent number of laps and topped all of them even without a board. His red-headed brother knew how to manipulate his body in a low-G environment and bodysurfed like a dolphin.

It left Gordon grinning. Everyone underestimated John...to their detriment. Even Gordon forgot what his big brother was capable of. Space wasn't just about books and science, there was a definite physical aspect and John worked hard to keep himself healthy.

"John!"

Gordon looked up at the beach to see Scott and Mel standing there, gesturing them in.

Virgil's deck chair was empty.

Gordon had seen his brother come down with John. Where was he now? A glance up and down the beach found it empty.

What the hell? He didn't climb back up the hill by himself, did he? Considering Scott was on the beach with that expression on his face probably struck that option off the list.

John, the smart ass, made it to the beach before any of them. That was something that would have to be fixed in the future. Gordon was an Olympic gold medallist and he had a reputation to maintain, after all.

"Where's Virgil?" Scott was not happy. "He's not answering his comms."

"He went for a walk." John pointed down the beach.

"Well, then where is he?"

John glared at his brother before walking over to the bag he had brought with him and yanking out his own comms. "Eos, location on Virgil, please."

The AI rattled off coordinates which, when Gordon ran them through the map in his head, equated to...

John pointed down the beach. "He's that way."

"Then why can't we see him?"

"How the hell should I know? Go and ask him." John matched Scott's glare with his own. "You do know he is a big boy and can look after himself?"

Scott actually growled at John before spinning and stalking off down the beach.

Oh dear, Virgil was in for it when he got found.

John glared after him a second before turning back to his comms. "Eos, Virgil's medical status?"

"Last readings all within normal parameters, however, approximately fifteen minutes ago, I believe he took off his shirt, and hence the sensor net in the material. I still have locator and proximity readings, but vitals are patchy. What I do have is within normal tolerances, however I do not have enough readings for that summary to be conclusive."

John rolled his eyes. "I'm going to kill him."

"C'mon, John, Virgil needs a break. He only went for a walk on the beach."

"Tell that to Scott."

"Scott needs to..." He trailed off at the expression on Mel's face. "Oh, you didn't."

A total lack of innocence appeared on her face. "Didn't what?"

"Oh, for god's sake, Mel, really?"

"What?"

Gordon groaned. "It's the dimples, isn't it." It wasn't a question. "The goddamned dimples."

Mel shrugged. "He is a great kisser, too."

Gordon stared at her. "Ergh." A frown. "I thought you were all about Virgil."

She shrugged. "He wasn't all about me. Scott is, uh, nice." The smile on her face crept up into her eyes.

"Argh."

"Why, Thunderfish, I didn't know you cared." Her grin was devilish.

"Umm..."

But she thwacked him on the arm. "Don't tie yourself into knots, fishy, I know you're all moony eyes for the Lady Penelope."

"What?!"

John snorted beside him and Sam cracked up laughing.

"And don't you worry your little fins about me and Scott. Was only a little fun."

"Aaah! I don't want to hear it."

Mel laughed at him and drew him into a hug. "You are a laugh, Thunderfish." She patted his back. "Though I have to say your brother was much happier before he was unable to locate Virgil."

Gordon snorted. "Scott doesn't come as a single option. You want the Commander, you're gonna have to share him with his four brothers. Particularly, Virgil."

She smirked and put on a seductive smile. "Hmm, all five of you? Really, tease a girl why don't you."

He stared at her in shock.

John cracked up laughing and Sam appeared to need resuscitation as he fell all over Liam who was trying to hold both him and himself up at the same time.

"Gee, Fishy, I didn't know you came in that colour. Did I embarrass you?" Her arm around his shoulders wasn't helping.

He glared at her. "I didn't know you had it in you, Mel."

She snorted. "I have a whole lot in here you don't know about, Thunderfish." But she was grinning at him. "Now I have to go keep both your brothers within sight since they have decided to break the rules."

Gordon stared up the beach and sure enough, there was no sign of them.

A shrug. "You can trust them."

She reached in and tapping his cheek gently, whispered, "I know, but them the rules." Her eyes were smiling at him. "He really is a great kisser, you know."

"You know, Mel. I can live without knowing."

She giggled. Giggled! He had never heard Mel giggle! And wandered off down the beach after his brother.

John was still grinning like a loon.

Gordon glared at him. "Shut up, John."

John's grin just got wider.

-o-o-o-

It was quiet on the beach. After Virgil got far enough away from his brothers and their friends, the natural sounds of the environment took over and Virgil connected with it.

The tension in his shoulders loosened, his back relaxed and he let out a sigh.

The water hissing onto the sand, the breakers cracking the glass ocean as the swell reached the island. Birds, so many birds, many of them the familiar sounds of home telling him how close they were to Tracy Island.

He found himself longing for that familiar environment. Grandma, Kayo, Brains muttering in the background, Gordon splashing in the pool, Alan's computer games, even Scott on the phone to Tracy Industries. The sounds of home.

But for the moment Raoul had to suffice.

And it was beautiful.

The beach was a decent length, backed by a rise that led off into the mountain that made the island. The fine sand was soft and curled about his toes and plants crawled down the hill to sprawl all over it. Pale morning glory flowers dotted the foliage. The contrast of light flower, green leaf and dark sand was quite striking and Virgil found himself composing a painting as he stopped and stared at the plants.

A thought and he reached into his pocket, grabbed his phone and spent the next few minutes photographing enough stock for a future painting.

Once he decided he had enough, he took a few shots of the incoming waves, the shoreline and the seascape. So much inspiration.

He continued walking and kept his phone in hand just in case. A large seabird flew off the ocean and up the slope and disappeared into the dense forest.

Hell, even the trees were like those on Tracy Island. Brilliant crimson anthers cascaded over evergreen leaves. A tui peered at him from a low branch and screeched at him before flying off.

He let it soak in.

The beach curved inwards slightly and he followed it around only to find the oddest sight.

Steaming hot water was dribbling from the sand bank. A cloud of barely condensed fog rose from it and the dark sand was stained with mineral deposits.

A hot spring! He crouched next to it. He had seen this volcano erupting, grabbed Melissa Fisher and her team off the volatile chunk of rock. Yet here it was quiet, beautiful and full of life, its potential energy little more than a trickle onto sand on a wave sculpted beach.

He reached out a hand and gauged the heat. It was cooling a little as it sputtered onto the shore and he could touch the pool it created. A convenient rock provided a seat and he sat down, letting his feet drop into the warm water.

His shoulders dropped and his eyes closed.

A sudden need to feel the sun on his skin and he threw off his shirt and dumped it, his shoes and his phone in the foliage beside the spring. The warmth from the sun and the hot water, the roar of the breaking surf, he closed his eyes again and just felt.

The eroded volcanic rock under his fingertips was rough, but as equally warmed by the morning sun as his skin.

It just felt so good on everything.

He sat there for some time, just experiencing it. His mood shifted from one of contemplation to one of joy. Everything was in harmony. The ecosystem hummed around him, the planet playing its eternal concert, a thrum that got into his bones.

A thrum.

A wordless thrum, in his bones, in his incisions, in the soles of his feet.

He opened his eyes and stared out at the ocean.

A spray of watery breath broke the surface beyond the breakers.

A moment later it was followed by another, smaller spray.

Virgil stared, and, climbing to his feet, stepped out of the steaming pool and walked towards the breaking surf.

As his feet touched the churning water the hum intensified, vibrating deeper with an unheard melody.

He kept walking until the water was breaking across his thighs, his clothes soaking wet.

The swell dipped between waves and a dark grey and white head emerged out of the water, as if staring at him. A smaller head did the same a moment later before both once again disappeared below the surface.

A joy washed through his body, the sea singing to him like it never had before.

An exhaled breath, his heart in his throat.

"Well, hello."

-o-o-o-

End Day 4, Part 1


	13. Day Four - Pt2

Title: We'll be home for Christmas

Day Four – Five Billionaires and No Wives – Part 2

Author: Gumnut

29 Jan – 11 Feb 2020

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: The boys can't fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way.

Word count: 2951

Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Artist!Virgil, Minor various ships, mostly background.

Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos we haven't seen it yet.

Author's note: For scattergraph. This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic :D

I'm still writing this, I promise :D I hope you enjoy this bit.

Many thanks to vegetacide and scribbles97 for cheering me on and their wonderful support through this craziness. And to onereyofstarlight for geeking out with me over the setting.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

Scott was angry.

He strode down the beach looking for his missing brother and fumed. He had finally been able to relax, finally been able to let go and now Virgil pulls a disappearing act.

Sure, Virgil was a grown man and he could look after himself, but Scott would always be his big brother, always look out for him, always worry about him.

Black sand kicked up as his toes hit a small drift and he stumbled. It brought him to a sudden stop and he found himself standing in the middle of an isolated beach fuming at the sand.

Who was he kidding?

And what the hell was he doing?

He dropped his hands to his knees and stood there bent in half, just breathing. The Virgil in the back of his head...because yes, there was one who sat beside both the Mom and the Dad in the back of his head...it was a crowded space...raised an eyebrow.

He was over reacting, wasn't he?

Scott let out a breath and cursed the sand beneath him before pushing himself upright and continuing his slog down the beach. He would just be happier with Virgil in sight.

The Virgil in his head rolled his eyes.

Yeah, well, it's my prerogative as your big brother.

The beach curved slightly, which explained why Virgil was likely out of sight, but Scott discovered his brother's detritus before he found the missing man.

Discarded red flannel shouted amongst the greens and greys surrounding a small steaming spring. Footprints led to it and then away. Scott's eyes tracked the direct line to the water...

"Virgil, what the hell?!"

His brother was almost waist deep in the surf, each wave battering at him as it rolled in. Apart from the fact the idiot wasn't supposed to submerge his incisions in the water, what the hell was he doing?! "Virgil?!"

Unable to hear Scott above the surf, his brother continued to stare out to sea. As if to taunt Scott, he took another step deeper.

Scott cursed and shed his shirt and shoes, dumping them beside the red flannel, and ran towards the water.

-o-o-o-

Virgil was frustrated.

He could feel the questions, the song in his body, but he had no way to answer. Without the technology to shift his voice to the right frequencies, he wouldn't be heard. Without amplification, any vocalisations would be muffled by the water.

He so wanted to answer.

The whales knew he was there. They hovered out of reach, beyond the surf line. He hummed deep in his throat, echoing the thrum vibrating through the water. Without thinking, he stepped closer, wanting no more than to be able to reach out and touch.

A large head peered over a dissipating wave and a huge eye latched onto him for only a second before disappearing beneath the surface.

Another step.

A hand landed on his shoulder and gripped hard.

"Virgil, what are you doing?!"

Scott.

Blink.

The thrum stopped and Virgil wilted. His feet shifted as the next wave hit him and he stumbled. Scott grabbed his arms, holding him up. "Virgil?"

"I'm good." But it was automatic. He realised he was far too deep, his incisions submerged in the water, his heart was pounding and Scott was staring at him with worried eyes.

Another wave hit side on and soaked the both of them. Virgil spat water.

He didn't get a chance to turn towards shore before Scott was dragging him in that direction. His brother didn't say anything further, but the grip on his arm was tight and Virgil knew he was going to pay for this.

Fortunately or not, Mel was standing on the shore waiting for them when they finally stepped out of the waves. Her eyes darted back and forth between them, but she didn't say anything, simply handing the both of them their shirts and shoes and Virgil his phone as well.

"They followed us."

"Who?" Mel was frowning up at him. Scott's hand tightened on his arm.

"The whales. The mother and calf. They're out there." He pointed out into the bay.

Mel's frown deepened. "Are you sure? They should be migrating south. They need the feeding grounds. Maybe they are another mum and calf?"

His lack of knowledge slapped him in the face, but something told him it was them. "It was them."

The frown didn't disappear, but her gaze did flick to Scott and back. "Okay. We should tell Sam."

"First we change your dressings." It was the Commander who spoke and Virgil found himself automatically straightening in response. Hell, even Mel stood taller, her eyes widening as she looked to his brother.

The surf hissed around Virgil's feet as an extra large wave dissipated on the sand.

Scott hadn't let go of his arm.

Internally, Virgil sighed. Great. His brother was pissed and stressed again and it was all his fault. His shoulders dropped. "I'm sorry, Scott."

Blue darted at him and the thin line of his brother's mouth tightened for a moment before softening. "C'mon." And he was being led back towards the other end of the beach.

-o-o-o-

The walk back was nowhere near as relaxing as his initial venture down the beach. Scott let go of him eventually, but his eyes hardly left him. Overreaction much?

He would have shouted that he was fine, that he could take care of himself, for crying out loud, but it was so obvious that he had screwed up royally, that he didn't bother.

To be honest, he was a little freaked himself. He hadn't intended on going into the water that deep. It wasn't like he had almost drowned himself, but he had been caught up in an almost thrall in the whales' voices.

Scott had a right to be at least a little concerned.

Being Scott, he blew a circuit.

And Virgil wrecked three solid days of his attempt to get the man to wind down.

He spent the walk back mentally kicking himself.

Gordon strode up grinning, but that grin faltered badly when he caught sight of Scott's expression. Virgil saw the moment the dots connected and his fishy brother's shoulders dropped. John's reaction was less obvious, but his frown at Virgil's soaked appearance was pretty clear.

Sam, somewhat clueless, bounced up all grins and smart comments. Liam was a little more sensitive to the situation and grabbed his husband by the scruff of his neck.

Suffice it to say that the party packed up and climbed back up the hill rather quickly. Scott on Virgil's heels the entire way.

The damned hill he had to climb didn't help and by the time they made it to the island's small infirmary, Virgil was tired and frustrated.

The finger that pointed him to the examination table was firm. Mel had made herself scarce. His brothers had quite willingly fed him to the wolf once they found out why Virgil was being glared at by his older brother.

Of course, nothing was stopping Gordon and Sam from locating those whales now they knew they were there and John was roped into helping with Five. They had all found a decent excuse to run off.

So, the two brothers were left alone in the infirmary with plenty of time to 'talk'.

Initially, Scott was silent, his actions abrupt and precise as he removed Virgil's old and now sodden dressings, exposing his stitches to the air. The incisions were actually quite small, thank goodness for keyhole surgery, but they cut through his abdominal wall and messed with his movement.

His brother wiped him down with antibacterial solution. "You better hope you haven't caught yourself an infection." The tone was cold.

"I will be fine."

"How do you know that?" Scott stopped and glared at him. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I'm fine, Scott." The problem was he hadn't been thinking.

The dressings were ripped out of their packaging rather vehemently and Scott's ministrations, while gentle, were sharp and vibrating with suppressed anger.

"You do know I can do that myself."

Scott stopped what he was doing. His shoulders dropped and his eyes closed. His sterile and gloved hands hovered in the air as if lacking direction. He didn't say a thing.

Virgil struggled to push himself into a seated position, levering his feet off the bed, grabbing his brother's arm. "Scott-"

"Why?" Blue eyes opened and were actually pleading at him. "Of all of them, I trust you the most to not do something stupid."

"What? So, I got my dressings wet. It's not a big deal."

"Virgil-"

"I'm fine. Quit worrying so much." He grabbed his brother's arms and squeezed gently. "Take a breath."

"Virg-"

"Stop. Take a breath."

Fire ignited in those blue eyes, but Scott stopped.

Air whistled across his teeth.

"Now. I'm sorry I apparently vanished. I was not aware I couldn't be seen. I'm sorry I got my dressings wet. I was distracted." Very distracted. Zombified was a more apt description. "But I can look after myself. You don't have to worry so much."

"You're my brother." It was a simple sentence, but it said so much. "Now lie down so I can make sure your wounds are properly protected."

Virgil sighed, his own shoulders dropping in parody of his brother's moments ago. But he didn't lie down.

Instead he looked up at his brother and drew him into a hug. "I'm okay, Scott. I promise. It was nothing. It was stupid. I'm fine." Please calm down.

Scott's arms curled around him, sterile hands still held out awkwardly, but the man said nothing.

"You need to relax."

"I was relaxed until you up and disappeared."

"I went for a walk."

"Into the damned ocean."

"I was looking at the whales."

"You didn't hear me. I called you repeatedly."

"I was focussed on their song."

Scott pulled away and stared down at him. "They were singing? I didn't hear anything."

"You can't hear most of it. It is below our hearing range."

"Then how?"

"I could feel it." His whole body was the receiver.

Scott eyed him a moment before swallowing and grabbing a new dressing. "Lie down."

Virgil rolled his eyes and did as he was asked. Scott finished his administrations quickly and quietly.

"I want you to go to bed and rest while we pack to leave."

"Scott-"

A hand came up. "No. You do stupid things, you give me this."

Virgil sighed. "Fine."

His brother helped him up again and off the bed before letting him go.

Virgil left him putting away equipment, making his way out the door and down the steps. Okay, if he was honest, all that walking, more than he had done for days, not to mention that blasted hill down to the beach, had taken a lot out of him.

And the song...

Kind hands helped him the last two steps onto the grass, John still sporting that frown. Great another brother he had to convince yet again he wasn't dying.

"I'm okay, John."

Turquoise flashed in the sunlight. John's voice was quiet, but firm. "We know that. But you have to understand, you scared us. You folded while flying. What would have happened if you had been flying alone? Could you have made it home?"

Virgil froze. The sun was warm, but he felt chilled. "I would have done my best."

"We know that. But you scared us. You scared Scott. Satisfy our need for reassurance." An indrawn breath. "Especially Scott."

A stare was the only reply Virgil could manage at first. Quiet. "Okay."

John's smile was small, but fond. His hand landed on Virgil's shoulder and squeezed gently. "Now, go rest. No doubt what he told you to do."

A resigned nod.

"I'll take on 'the Commander'." John sighed quietly. "Don't disappear again."

"I won't."

His shoulder was squeezed once more and let go, John stepped gracefully up the steps and vanished into the infirmary.

Virgil let out a breath.

Well, shit.

Guess he was 'resting' for the next hour or so at least. Resigned, he turned and headed off to the hostel.

-o-o-o-

John watched as Scott put away the last of the extra dressings. His brother knew he was there, he had no doubt of that, but neither said a thing.

Eventually Scott finished up, straightened and turned to face John. "What?"

"You're going to have to back off."

"Why?"

"You're hovering like a distressed parent. Virgil is a grown man. Sure, he did something stupid, but this is the brother who throws himself through walls into burning buildings on a regular basis. He had appendicitis. He had surgery. He is recovering." Eyebrows for emphasis. "You're overreacting."

"He was alone on a beach, waist deep in surf and walking deeper. It was like he didn't know what he was doing!"

John flashed back to the day before when Virgil had sung to the whales. It had been worrisome.

"We will keep an eye on him. But back off."

"Easy for you to say. You're not responsible-"

"Bullshit, Scott." He took a step forward. "I send all of you into danger, everyday! Don't you lecture me on guilt!"

"I'm in command."

"You're on vacation!" He drew in a breath and forced his calm facade into place. What was it with Scott that messed with his control so much?

Family knew how to press all the buttons.

"I am responsi-"

"No, you're not."

"John-"

"We are all adults here. Yes, even Allie." And he said it with sadness. "You need to relax. This isn't good for you."

"Yes, everyone says that. 'Relax, Scott, put your feet up." He waved a careless hand. "You're on vacation. It never stops, John. Never! I'm still responsible. It all comes down to me."

A sigh. "It really doesn't."

Scott stared at him.

"We are responsible for ourselves."

"John-"

"I guess from my perspective, it looks different, but I have to trust my brothers know what they are doing. I can't reach out a hand to catch them. I have to trust them." He straightened a little. "You have to trust, Scott."

"I do trust you."

"Do you really? Do you think Virgil really would have drowned himself?"

Scott opened his mouth, but frowned instead.

John pushed the point. "Do you really think Virgil has lost his mind enough to voluntarily injure himself?"

"Well, no."

"When he vanished on the beach, did you think he was in danger?"

"I...well, maybe..." A blink. "Okay, no, not really, I just...am used to being in direct communication with all of you and he wasn't answering. What am I supposed to think?"

John had to concede that Scott had a point. They were spoilt with the ability to contact each other on whim. Virgil obviously hadn't thought of that when he removed his shirt and left his phone behind. "You have to trust that Virgil will be okay. That he can handle himself."

Scott made a disgusted sound and threw himself into a chair, rubbing a hand over his face. "Easier said than done."

John grabbed another chair and sat down opposite his big brother. "You do it every time we go out on a rescue. You do if for me all the time I'm on Five."

"Yeah." But it was a mocking sound.

"You have to let go."

"I can't! You're my brothers!"

Different tactic. "Do you have any idea what you did to all of us those first few years after Dad went missing?"

Scott's head came up, his eyes wide. "What?"

"You went nuts. Taking horrible risks. Virgil was beside himself. He ended up on Five terrified we were going to lose you as well as Dad. Did you know that?"

Mouth open. "N-no..."

"He said he spoke to you several times. It wasn't until the aurora generator incident that you finally started to listen."

Eyes on the floor, but focussed ever so far away. "He didn't tell me."

"Yes, he did. But you weren't listening. Please listen now." Another indrawn breath. "We don't want to lose you, either on a mission or to burnout."

Ever so quiet, Scott's entire body slumped into the chair. "Okay." Whispered. "I'll try."

"As for the whales...I think we should throw Virgil at Gordon. He knows what he is doing. We can _trust_ Gordon to keep Virgil safe, can't we?"

Vulnerable azure glanced up at him. "Yeah." Back down at the floor. "Yeah, we can."

John shifted where he sat. There was silence for a moment as he reordered his thoughts to work out a way to draw Scott back out again. The last thing they needed was for him to retreat to nurse his wounds and suffer in silence.

Alone.

"So, you going to dish on what's happening between you and Mel?"

That startled him. Even a small smile appeared on his brother's face. "What did you want to know?"

John snorted a little. "Without going into detail, spill, big brother."

That smile, to John's relief, widened. "She's remarkable."

"And not immune to a little Scott Tracy charm, apparently."

"Hey, I play to my strengths."

A soft smile. "Then go play some more while the rest of us pack up."

"Virgil has gone to rest."

"I know. Now you go rest and talk to Mel. You're on vacation."

His brother's lips thinned, but he stood up and offered John a hand, catching his eyes.

John took his brother's hand and found himself drawn into a heartfelt hug. His big brother, holding him tight. "Thanks, John."

"Anytime." Scott's shirt was soft under his cheek. "We're brothers, remember?"

"Yeah, we are." His brother drew in a breath.

"We are."

-o-o-o-

End Day Four, Part Two.


	14. Day Four - Pt3

_Title: We'll be home for Christmas_

_Day Four – Five Billionaires and No Wives – Part 3_

_Author: Gumnut_

_11 Feb - 23 Apr 2020_

_Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS_

_Rating: Teen_

_Summary: The boys can't fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way._

_Word count: 2876_

_Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Artist!Virgil, Minor various ships, mostly background._

_Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos we haven't seen it yet._

_Author's note: For scattergraph . This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic :D_

_I've finally got my head back into this fic!_

_Many thanks to scribbles97 and onereyofstarlight for reading through and for all their wonderful support._

_Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother._

-o-o-o-

Gordon stared at the two dots circling A Little Lightning.

Raoul Island sported some excellent scanning equipment and with John enabling access to Thunderbird Five, Gordon could see for miles.

He could even see the far off dot that was their ultimate destination tonight. Tracy Island was such a tiny smudge in the middle of the ocean, so much smaller than Raoul. A moment to acknowledge it and he realised he missed it badly.

Well, they would be home tonight if they got moving soon enough.

But the whales...

"Yeah, they are the same two from yesterday."

Sam stared at him. "How can you tell?"

Gordon pulled up the feed from the Raoul sea buoy network ring. A hologram appeared of the mother and calf with just enough detail for Gordon to point out the healing net injuries on the little one.

"Ouch."

"Yeah, she was caught nasty."

"Bastards."

* * *

"Don't worry, we got them. Hell, IR has identified the money responsible and we have our legal team in motion." A polite way to say his beautiful girlfriend was wreaking havoc in a calm but final way only she knew how. He had no doubts there would be very little left of the Polominka guy by the time she finished with him.

And what was left would probably be swept up by Parker and deposited in the nearest trash can.

Gotta love a girl who knew how to get a job done.

"Gords, you with us?"

"Huh?" A blink. Sam was grinning at him as if he knew exactly what Gordon was thinking about. He glared at him.

It didn't faze the man. "Penny for your thoughts?" That was followed by an outright snigger.

"Shut it, Samwise." So, he flushed scarlet, big deal. Idiot.

"Hey, is it my fault you go all moony-eyed at the mere thought of your girl?" Sam's smirk was glare-worthy. "So, do I get a chance to meet this legend of blonde and pink?"

The glare turned into a frown. "How do you guys know so much about me and Penny?" It wasn't like he had posted a billboard to advertise what was a very new relationship.

Sam shrugged. "Mel heard you were injured, raised a ruckus and Lady Penelope fell out of the sky. Apparently, they get on like a house on fire."

Gordon stared at him. "Penelope and Mel?"

Another shrug. "Don't look at me. Liam and I were in Perth." He poked Gordon in the ribs. "You need to find a way to let us know how you're doing, man. The news nets were screaming about an injured Tracy brother. It took them hours to work out which one and during that time you had died and been reincarnated six times. You gave us a bloody heart attack. I know you have to be secret and all, but you're my friend, Gords. Don't do that again."

A blink. "I'll try not to." But there would be no promises. "I'll speak to John and make sure Raoul gets notified." But there would have to be restrictions. Their privacy had to be maintained. Scott would be a challenge. "You have to realise that there is just us, and we prefer to play it close. The media sucks."

"I bet." Sam turned back to the holographic display. "They appear to be waiting for you." A breath. "Extremely odd behaviour."

"What do you think they want?"

Sam shook his head. "My initial suspicion is either you or Virgil. Scott said Virgil was trying to walk into the water. You yourself had very close contact yesterday. My guess would be they want to make contact again? But really, we know so little about cetacean reality, our interpretation is far too anthropomorphised to be considered."

"Virgil said the mother spoke to him with emotion. That he received an impression from her singing."

"A human interpretation. This is where linguistics between species breakdown. Points of reference. The cetacean environment is so different to ours, there is very little shared reference to enable translation."

"But they are mammals like us, surely they feel emotion?"

Sam held out his hands. "I'm sure they do. Hell, I know they do. But how do you communicate emotion through dissimilar body structure? We primarily communicate through our facial expressions and body language. Across species we don't have that avenue."

"We have their song."

"Yes, we do. But human communication is only five percent vocal." Sam swallowed. "I have theories and suspicions that whales rely much more on sound than we do due to their environment, but research is difficult."

"That is why you pounced on Virgil."

A sharp nod. "This is a bloody breakthrough, Gords. It's a first." He prodded the display to bring up audio. "Your brother managed something no-one in the world has ever been able to do. We need him."

Now that wasn't a first. Virgil was needed on a variety of fronts daily, not the least of which was by his brothers.

"Take it slow, Sam."

"I know, I know."

"We should also speak to John. He's our communications expert. Speaks a gazillion languages. He might be able to help."

"How many is a gazillion?"

"That you will have to ask him. I've lost count and he keeps learning new ones. Useful on the job." Gordon twiddled with the focus of the sensor array. The two whales continued their slow circle around A Little Lightning. "How do you think they will react when we return to the boat?"

Sam drew in a thoughtful breath. "Hard to tell. Humpback whales don't tend to be aggressive. In fact, they are one of the gentlest species. The only cases of aggression I've encountered involve threat to an individual or a calf. Having said that, this behaviour is very unusual."

"You want to come out with us?"

Pale green eyes shot at him. "You just try keeping me away. I've already got the inflatable ready."

Gordon had to smirk. He had already figured he'd have company. Hell, Mel would probably want to come with, as well. Even if only to kiss Scott goodbye.

Hmm.

"Well, I guess we will find out."

-o-o-o-

It was an hour before they made it out onto the water. Packing and the fact Virgil had fallen asleep, held them up.

Scott was missing for most of that hour and John refused to say where he was. Not that Gordon had to work too hard to guess with Mel missing at the same time. The less time spent thinking about his eldest brother getting 'together' with his friend, the better.

Alan surfaced talking a mile a minute about the telescope on the other side of the Island. Apparently, it was 'brilliant', 'amazing' and 'John should get one'.

John's response to that was two words, "Thunderbird Five'.

"Oh, yeah." But Alan was undeterred. "I might get one myself."

"Alan, you have access to Five."

"Yeah, but it is so cool!"

John rolled his eyes and went back to packing.

Virgil woke eventually and stumbled off to the coffee pot. The expression on his face warned that any obstacles would be obliterated.

Even Sam read that one correctly.

Scott appeared in his running clothes shortly after. He was flushed and Gordon noted several suspicious marks on his neck.

That thought led in icky directions and he had to derail that train. But at least Scott's mood appeared to have improved. He disappeared into the shower and emerged ever the efficient director of operations.

John was seen to roll his eyes again.

During this time, Gordon kept an eye on the whales. They were still circling when the Tracy brothers, Mel and Sam finally left the compound and made their way back to Fishing Rock.

"No." Virgil's expression was stubbornness itself. The skyrail loomed above him, the harness set and ready.

Scott's shoulders straightened, lining up for a bullfight with his bull-headed brother. Gordon readied to intervene, but was pre-empted by John.

The astronaut stepped up to Virgil's side and simply touched his arm. Brown eyes flickered and were caught by turquoise. The engineer's lips thinned but John's frown deepened just a little.

Virgil's shoulders dropped along with his eyes. "Fine."

John's frown hit Scott between the eyes and big brother relaxed just a little.

Virgil was harnessed up without further protest.

Scott squeezed his arm gently before they released him onto the line and Virgil turned to stare at him as he disappeared into the foliage. Their luggage followed.

Mel stepped up to Scott, rather closer than necessary, noted Gordon. "Race you to the bottom?"

Scott's first grin for the day spread across his face.

Gordon couldn't help but smile with him.

A heartbeat and Mel and his eldest brother took off down the path.

Sam snorted. "They make quite a pair. I hope he knows what he has got himself into."

John frowned a little, but it was Gordon who answered that one. "Does she know what she has gotten into?"

"I guess we'll all find out." With that Sam headed down the hill. Gordon, John and Alan trotted after him.

The reason for the impromptu foot race revealed itself when Gordon finally made it to the beach. Virgil was already out of the harness with no repeat of the dangling helplessly incident. Scott was laughing, obviously the victor, though the expression on Mel's face had Gordon suspecting a little planning on her part.

But the best part of it all was the arm Scott had around his brother.

Oh, thank god. It sucked big time when the two eldest were at loggerheads. Nothing worked smoothly when Scott and Virgil fought. A glance at John and the small smile on his face only provided more relief.

Their inflatable was where they left it, secured and protected. Gordon examined it from bow to stern satisfying himself of its safety and he and John lugged it over the rocks and used the crane to lower it into the water. Sam and Mel were only a few steps behind with their own, much larger inflatable. Both boats were secured on the swell, Gordon jumping into his first to make it ready and help load their luggage.

Scott joined him a moment later as he and John helped Virgil to board. A grunt and his engineer brother made the stretch and holding himself, curled up in one corner. Alan climbed on board just as Mel joined Sam in their boat.

All secure, Gordon started the engine and turning the boat around, headed out towards the distant A Little Lightning.

-o-o-o-

He felt it as soon as he set foot in the boat. A deep hum in the soles of his feet.

His belly ached from the trip down and sitting in the boat itself wasn't the most comfortable, but the inflatable was bare insulation from the water and it carried the sound he couldn't hear.

Around him, his brothers chattered and settled. Virgil closed his eyes and just felt.

Water on rocks, water on boat, water on water, birds, the breeze….and a weaving hum. He frowned. No, two, there were two voices singing through his feet.

He cherished the accomplishment of identifying the soft interwoven-

Gordon started up the outboard engine and the boat shot out into ocean.

"No!" His hand shot out. "Stop!"

It was a sign of trust and instinct that had Gordon killing the engine at that simple word from his brother. Mel and Sam shot past them.

"Virgil?" Scott was frowning at him. "What is it?"

"No engine."

"What? You don't expect us to row all the way out there do you?" Alan's eyes were wide.

Mel and Sam turned their boat back towards the Tracy's becalmed inflatable. A word from Gordon over comms and their engine died under Sam's hand. They coasted alongside the Tracys.

Virgil reached over the side and put his hand into the water.

Song sung up his arm and he closed his eyes again, noting the notes by intensity.

"What's going on?" Alan's voice was worried.

"Shh!" Gordon's voice was quiet but sharp.

Virgil was suddenly surrounded by brothers. Gordon sat down beside him and Scott and John opposite. Alan hovered behind them.

"Thunderfish?"

Virgil didn't hear his brother's response, but the question wasn't asked again.

"Virgil?" Scott's voice was ever so quiet. "What is it?"

Opening his eyes caught concerned blue. "They're singing." He frowned. "Calling."

"Calling? How do you know?" Gordon's voice was just as soft.

Virgil turned to his fish brother, catching those curious russet-brown eyes. "I…I don't know."

"We need to get out to the boat, Virgil." Scott, ever the goal orientated.

"No engine."

Gordon shifted beside him and began unfastening oars. "Then I guess we are rowing out." One oar free, he nudged his older brothers out of the way. Scott ended up beside Virgil and John beside Alan at the bow of the boat. With the second oar free, Gordon secured them and himself and dipped their tips in the water. "It's been a while. Should be fun." Swimmer's shoulders bunched up and he took the first stroke, a second and then eased himself into a steady rhythm.

Beside them, Sam broke out their oars and followed.

It was slow, but steady going after that.

Virgil let his fingers trail in the water. Except for the water, wind and birds, it was peaceful, the song interweaving amongst it all as if luring him.

His eyes closed again.

A random beep and he opened them to find Raoul further away and John with his tablet out, a holoprojection above it. Four dots, two circling, two approaching.

Gordon smiled at Virgil.

And the song changed.

It was so sudden his heart missed a beat. Scott grabbed his arm. "Virgil?"

"Can you hear it?"

Scott just stared at him, but Gordon stopped rowing and tipped his head to one side. Behind him, John had a puzzled look on his face which was quickly replaced by one of concern. "The whales have stopped circling. They are headed this way."

As his brothers turned as one to look in the direction of the yacht, Virgil realised they were closer to A Little Lightning than he had thought.

"Here they come!"

Virgil leant over the edge of the boat, ever aware of Scott's grip on his arm, and caught sight of what was no doubt the mother whale as she passed under their inflatable. Virgil's jaw dropped. She was massive. Sure, he'd seen her from a distance, holographically in scale up against his brothers, but to see her this close.

"Oh my god."

"Are we safe?" Scott's sharp words were aimed at Gordon.

"Humpbacks are gentle creatures. Generally, they only become aggressive in self-defence. We're not attacking them."

"But what are they doing?"

"They are curious." The words fell from Virgil's lips without much in the way of thought. The sense of the song had switched from calling to curiosity. He hummed the dominant audible melody. It was little more than a series of pulsating tones backed by the infrasound in his bones.

His hand was still in the water, still seeking the unheard notes when John drew in a sharp breath. "Gordon, move the boat!"

Their fish brother grabbed the oars, but before he could take a single stroke, something touched Virgil's hand.

The mother whale surfaced, the tip of her massive chin lifting out of the water directly beside Virgil.

"Woah." It was a whisper of wonder from Gordon.

Virgil, initially pulling his hand back in surprise, was mesmerised. The very colours he had painted barely two days ago, the shapes, the glisten, the immensity…

The all-consuming sound.

His fingers touched soft skin.

It felt like touching music.

He couldn't help but respond, deep in his throat as best he could as the song shifted to one that echoed his amazement. The notes were organic, simple, yet complex and missing the sound he could not create.

Curiosity.

Puzzlement.

"Virgil?"

His voice wasn't deep enough.

Or high enough.

"Virgil?" Someone was touching his cheek, a hand cupping the side of his face. He opened his eyes to find Scott in front of him, that ever-present worry on his face.

"I still can't answer." It was frustration and sadness all of his own.

"We'll get you back on the yacht. We have the technology there." Scott ever the enabler.

Ever the rescuer.

But suddenly his connection was lost. The song stopped and mother whale slipped beneath the surface. Virgil leant over the edge of the boat and might have followed if it wasn't for that same grip on his arm.

There was an order from Scott that Virgil wasn't focussed on, the oars cut the water and the boat resumed moving towards the yacht.

Virgil stared into the turquoise depths, lost without the buoy of the song. He sagged against the inflatable plastic.

"Gordon, faster!" It came from John. "She's coming up again, but she's not slowing down! Move!"

"I'm try-"

The whale hit the underside of the inflatable lifting it and all the brothers off the surface of the ocean for just a moment before tipping it over and throwing all five of them into the water.

-o-o-o-

End Day Four, Part Three.


	15. Day Four - Pt4

_Title: We'll be home for Christmas_

_Day Four – Five Billionaires and No Wives – Part 4_

_Author: Gumnut_

_23 - 29 Apr 2020_

_Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS_

_Rating: Teen_

_Summary: The boys can't fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way._

_Word count: 2989_

_Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Artist!Virgil, Minor various ships, mostly background._

_Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos we haven't seen it yet._

_Author's note: For __ scattergraph__ . This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic :D_

_I'm nervous about this one. I'm chewing nails. Also, it is very late and I haven't reread it as much as I probably should. Aaaargh! I hope you enjoy it anyway._

_Many thanks to __ scribbles97__ and __ onereyofstarlight__ for reading through, fielding my many wibblies with this bit, and for all their wonderful support._

_Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother._

-o-o-o-

The world tipped up and Gordon found himself airborne. It was only lifelong training that saw him in diving form by the time he hit the water.

The various squawks and splashes of tumbled brothers told him that he needed to run more water drills.

Fully dressed, Gordon slid through the water as easily as ever, shedding his momentum and twisting towards the surface. A gasp of air, an image of their upturned boat and a disappearing humpback fluke. He immediately made to locate four brothers.

John appeared first, elegant as ever, but with floppy red hair in his eyes. Scott followed, his expression a mix of worry and anger. A moment later Alan popped up spitting salt water. Of all the brothers, the youngest was the least fish.

There was no sign of Virgil.

Shit.

John was deploying his tablet in seconds. Gordon swam towards the upturned boat, worried that his brother might be trapped under it. "Virgil?"

A deep vibration in the water. Song thrumming from far below.

"She's surfacing again!" It was Scott, hastily backing away from a shadow rearing up from the depths. Gordon's eyes widened. Too close. Too close!

But there was no sudden eruption and breach.

The massive whale slowed her approach allowing her head to gently break the surface in an arc.

Virgil lay limp on his belly draped over her rostrum.

Oh, shit.

-o-o-o-

Virgil Tracy was not a fish. He much preferred his feet on dry land. That said, he could swim well. Swimming was great training and an all-over fitness tool. Not to mention that he had to be qualified for underwater rescue as much as his brothers, even if not perhaps as much as Gordon. His brother had taken him down into the depths of the Tracy Island caldera and amongst the amazing wildlife there. He had painted scenes of the coral and the sharks and the fish. He really enjoyed it.

But he was not a natural.

If Gordon had seen how he hit the water with a god-awful slap, he would be training his ass in that caldera for all time to come. The seawater that ended up in his throat and mouth wasn't much fun either. his orientation was blown for a few crucial moments until he began to sink.

It was then he discovered that his post-operative body did not appreciate the movements required to push himself towards the light now far above. His lungs hated him, desperate to expel the water contaminated air irritating them.

If that wasn't enough to contend with, the water around him suddenly vibrated with query, with rhythm, with song.

It swamped his senses. The light above dazzled with it. Every muscle in his shoulders and arms desperately tried to climb the water column, but the possibility that this time the strength he so often relied on might not be enough crept into his mind and somewhere deep in his gut true fear began to brew.

Not enough.

A nudge from below, a spike in that intense query and the huge humpback whale came up underneath him. He found himself clinging to her head, soft skin, barnacles and all.

He closed his eyes as her song enveloped him.

-o-o-o-

"Virgil!"

The body under him flinched and he was shaken gently.

It forced his eyes open and sunlight hit his retinas. His lungs noted that he was no longer surrounded by water and promptly puked up what they had been trying to get rid of and Virgil found himself wracked by coughing spasms.

His abdomen decided this wasn't appreciated in the slightest and yelled at him appropriately.

"Virgil." Gordon's voice was much quieter and between coughs he caught a glimpse of his little brother cautiously approaching. A struggle to calm his diaphragm and he caught sight of three more brothers, all with worried eyes.

The mother humpback hummed into his chest and lowered Virgil just a little as if to offer him to Gordon.

The aquanaut slipped alongside and laid a gentle hand on her head, muttering soft words.

She answered with a rumble and a purr.

Virgil found himself smiling with no idea why.

"Virg, you okay?" Gordon reached out and touched his arm.

He grunted. "My appendix hates me." He let his head drop gently down onto wet and cool skin.

"You don't have an appendix."

"That's probably why it hates me." His eyes closed. Her voice was so lulling, he could just lose himself in the sound.

"No sleeping on the whale, Virgil. You gonna come down from there?"

He didn't answer immediately. To be honest he was quite happy exactly where he was. It was odd. It was weird. But he felt perfectly safe lying there, her voice lulling him.

"Virgil, I said no sleeping." The hand on his arm squeezed.

"Not sleeping." He wasn't, really. "Listening." Feeling. Absorbing. Trying to understand. He hummed deep in his throat, interweaving a harmony with her voice. It was surprisingly comforting.

A click and a groan, the mother tossed her head just slightly, her voice sparking in query again.

Gordon backed off a little. "Virgil, I'd be much more comfortable if you came down from there."

Virgil let out a breath and his fingers slid over the soft skin cushioning his head. He stroked gently and she rumbled at him.

He hummed in reply.

Her voice wove around his. He half felt, half heard her, rhythm dancing about his body and mind. Rising in crescendo and dipping into depths that spoke of oceans vast and deeper.

It was such a high, such an intricate duet of incomprehensible melody. He sung without thought, giving what little his voice could provide and she compensated, vibrating through him with such an upwelling of astonishment and amazement.

He let go.

-o-o-o-

Scott stared as Virgil lay prone on a whale's head and crooned some strange song that obviously meant something to him, but nothing to Scott. Every muscle in his body was strung for action, to swim over there, grab Virgil and pull him to safety.

The only thing holding him back was a pair of turquoise eyes.

John had swum over to Scott as Gordon made his way over to Virgil and placed himself in a position to stop Scott from doing exactly what they both knew Scott wanted to do.

"Gordon's got this." The words were quiet, barely heard above the lap of water against his collar bone, but they might as well have been a slap in the face.

This was Gordon's realm, not his. Gordon knew these creatures, he knew the ocean. Gordon would protect Virgil.

Virgil was singing to a whale.

It was ridiculous. It was dangerous. The humpback was many times the size of both his brothers combined and could hurt or injure them at will.

Turquoise continued to stare at him.

Scott let out a non-committal grunt that if examined closer could easily be interpreted as one of distress.

Gordon was talking quietly to the whale, to Virgil, but the engineer was ignoring him as if he was caught in some kind of thrall.

God, he hated this.

Alan swam in closer and Scott was instinctively grateful.

"What's going on?" His voice was as worried as Scott felt.

Exhaled over the dip and swell of the ocean. "Hell, if I know."

-o-o-o-

Gordon stared at Virgil as he sang. Deep, ever so deep at the edge of his range, only to spike to a higher register. He lay, eyes closed, on the mother whale's rostrum, body lax, but diaphragm working hard.

Concerned for his brother's medical condition, Gordon opened his mouth to interrupt.

A nudge and a cool, wet body came up under his right arm.

He startled and spun. Several gasps from his brothers and Gordon came face to face with the young calf they had saved the day before.

He could feel the vibrations in the water and the echo of Virgil's odd singing, but amongst it, he also heard the mutter of the little one as she nudged his hand again.

Jaw dropping, Gordon reached out and lay his hand on her rostrum.

She bounced her head lightly, nudging him further and he made his way down her side until he reached her eye. She rumbled at him.

"Hey, sweetheart. How are you feeling?" He reached out and gently touched her eye ridge just as he had the day before.

She clicked at him, deepening his touch by leaning into his hand.

A purr vibrated between his fingers.

The purr was echoed by the mother whale and she moved slightly taking Virgil with her.

Hurriedly, Gordon reached over and re-connected with Mamma whale. He ended up with one hand on the calf and one on her mother. "Hey, guys, you've got my brother. No running off with him, okay? We kinda need him."

The calf snorted.

Virgil burst out laughing.

Startled, Gordon looked back at his brother and found him grinning, eyes still closed as if reacting to an unheard joke.

"What are you guys doing to Virgil?" He muttered it, aware of the audience to this little concert. Scott, no doubt was going into meltdown. While Sam was probably foaming at the bit, desperate to jump in the water and join in.

But no one was moving, thank god.

Gordon ran scenarios through his head, listing off everything he knew about these beautiful creatures and attempting to work out what exactly they wanted with his brother. Ultimately trying to work out whether he should intervene or not.

But then the decision was taken from him.

The music stopped. Its absence was abrupt and disturbing. Water and wind dominated the soundscape by themselves for several moments.

Virgil still had his eyes closed, a slight frown on his face.

"Virgil, you with me bro?"

It took a moment and Virgil's brow crumpled just a touch more. "I'm good." Barely heard above the water and the calf who started a repetitive click now that Mamma had fallen silent.

Mamma whale clicked back and suddenly turned in the water, her huge body creating a wake of bubbles around Gordon and sweeping him up.

Virgil yelped and fell off her rostrum with an awkward splash.

That was all it took for everything to start moving again. Gordon dove to where his brother had fallen and, with a grab, caught Virgil's shirt and dragged him back to the surface.

"Virgil? You okay?"

A splutter and a mumbled something followed by yet more coughing was answer enough for Gordon. "Okay, this little sea venture is over, bro. Back onto a boat for you." He shifted his heavy brother into a rescue hold and began swimming him to Sam and Mel's boat.

There was a protest from Virgil, but it was small. It was obvious a lot had been taken out of the man and for once in his life, he relaxed and let Gordon take control.

That was even more disconcerting.

Of course, 'relaxed' was the direct opposite of what Scott was feeling at that very moment and he narrowed in on both brothers almost immediately.

"Virgil?"

"Scott, can I get him aboard the boat before you rip his head off?"

That earned Gordon a blue-eyed glare for the record books.

"Hey, he's half drowned. Give the guy a break. Hell, give me a break, he's heavy."

That, of course, prompted Virgil to protest that he could swim himself.

"You, shut up. You want to sing with whales, you're on my turf, bro. You do what I say." A snort. "My ocean, my rules."

Virgil groaned, but he grudgingly relaxed back into Gordon's hold again.

With another glare at Scott, Gordon resumed swimming towards Sam and Mel.

He wasn't surprised in the slightest when his brothers followed.

Both Mel and Sam were ready to help him. Virgil muttered something about being sick of having to be manhandled in and out of boats, but Gordon ignored him.

He didn't ignore the groan from his brother as he was dragged into the inflatable or the fact he curled into a ball the moment he was gently laid down. Gordon resisted the urge to jump up into the boat with him. Of course, Scott threw himself out of the water and as soon as he possibly could, clambering aboard and kneeling beside Virgil.

Gordon turned back to their upturned boat. Mamma whale and calf were still hovering not far away and he wondered what their intentions were.

Maybe Virgil knew.

The thought was just out there.

Both whales exhaled in a fountain of wet spray.

Gordon blinked saltwater from his eyes. "John, you wanna give me a hand?"

The astronaut was giving Alan a leg up into the boat, but turned and nodded.

A sigh. Turn over the boat, find what luggage they could, get Virgil aboard A Little Lightning…

And go home.

Mamma whale slapped her fluke and a spray of water was carried across them all.

-o-o-o-

Virgil was exhausted and he had no idea why.

Sure, his abdomen hurt, but he was held down by a whole-body lethargy, as if contact with the whales had drained all the energy from his limbs.

"Virgil? You with me?"

The plastic beneath his cheek was cold, wet and smelled of the sea. Scott was a vibrating presence beside him and Virgil knew he had screwed up again. "I'm sorry." He tried to wrap himself tighter, his arms pulling on each other as if he was cold, even though he wasn't.

"Are you okay?"

A cough burnt the back of his throat and his voice was hoarse as a result. "'M fine."

"Bullshit."

A survival blanket appeared out of nowhere and Scott draped it around Virgil, tucking it into corners. Something soft was placed under his head.

"I'm fine."

Exasperation. "Okay. Whatever. I'm not, so just lie there for me, please."

Virgil grunted, but forced his eyes to focus on his brother. Scott's hair was plastered to his scalp making him look young and vulnerable. His eyebrows were a worried line that crumpled in the centre. His usual blue shirt was sodden and clinging to his frame.

Virgil's eyes closed without permission.

She whispered to him through the bottom of the boat. A soft hum barely felt and he found himself smiling again. His brothers' voices were a pleasant background concert to her voice and that of her daughter.

He became vaguely aware that Gordon had righted the other boat and was now working out how to retrieve their luggage.

The world faded a moment there.

"Back away, John!" Gordon's voice was sharp with command and it carried firmly across the water. "She's moving! Sam, move the boat!"

An outboard engine started up and it jarred him, roaring out the gentle song. He pushed himself up, the survival blanket falling to his waist. "No! No, engine!"

Sam wasn't Gordon and didn't automatically obey a Virgil order. The inflatable headed away from Gordon and the other boat.

"Turn off the engine, Sam!" He yelled and his throat complained, but Mel took the cue, her eyes darting between Virgil and Scott.

"Sam, do as he says."

The man frowned, but the engine died.

The sudden silence was profound.

John climbed out of the water and into the other boat beside Gordon, now several dozen metres in the distance.

Virgil could feel the thrum of the mother whale in the pads of his fingers and the palm of his hand splayed across the plastic bottom of the boat.

But he couldn't see them anywhere.

He sat up taller. Where were they?

John yelled something and Virgil could see him reach for his comms…

Mother whale broke the surface of the water between the two boats.

At speed.

A good two thirds of her body shot vertically into the air. Virgil's eyes widened as her size became immediately apparent as a swath of white and grey skin passed him. For a handful of moments, she loomed over them, her body arching into a graceful arc.

Time hung.

Virgil's heart missed a beat.

With a sonic yell, she flung herself onto her back, sending half the ocean into the air in her place.

Virgil blinked as water hit his face. The boat was tossed and his brothers were yelling. He blinked again, holding on tight to the seat beside him.

It was a simple goodbye.

He let out a breath as water ran down his face. The ocean calmed; the boat lulled back to the gentle sway of the swell.

The song was fading. They were leaving.

"Virgil?"

Another blink and he attempted to focus on his brother.

A sigh at the concern in those blue eyes. "Please don't ask me if I'm okay."

Scott folded down beside him in the cramped space between the seats. His hair was still in his eyes and he looked as bedraggled as Virgil felt. "What do you want me to say?"

"Nothing." But he let his head drop to Scott's shoulder. "They're leaving."

"How do you know?"

"I don't know, I just do." The song had already faded to almost nothing. God, he was tired.

An arm snaked around his back and pulled the blanket up around him again before wrapping around his shoulder as Scott drew him in. "You know what?"

"What?" His eyes were drifting closed again.

"You're hard work."

Virgil snorted, the echo of the accusation he had lobbed at his brother only a few days earlier thrown back him.

"Yeah, well, I learnt from the best."

Scott sighed. "I guess I'll have to kick your ass later."

"I'm sure you will." But his brother only pulled him closer, there may have even been a kiss in his hair.

The lap of water, his brothers' voices, the rhythm of Scott's breathing and heartbeat.

Warmth, song and memory.

Virgil drifted off to sleep.

-o-o-o-

End Day Four, Part Four


	16. Day Four - Pt5

_Title: We'll be home for Christmas_

_Day Four – Five Billionaires and No Wives – Part 5_

_Author: Gumnut_

_29 Apr - 11 May 2020_

_Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS_

_Rating: Teen_

_Summary: The boys can't fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way._

_Word count: 4259_

_Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Artist!Virgil, Minor various ships, mostly background. A little angst in this one._

_Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos I started this fic before we saw it._

_Author's note: For scattergraph . This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic :D_

_I've been staring at this too long and it is late. I hope I don't regret posting this. Especially as Alan misbehaved and threw an unplanned scene at me._

_Many thanks to i-am-chidorixblossom scribbles97 and onereyofstarlight for reading through various bits, fielding my many wibblies, and for all their wonderful support._

_Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother._

-o-o-o-

He didn't sleep long.

Virgil was woken so they could drag him onto A Little Lightning. Scott marshalled him out of his wet clothes, into a shower and quietly redressed his healing incisions. Lunch was demanded and a sandwich shoved into his hand. Coffee was denied him and orange juice substituted.

He found himself dozing at the table.

Mel and Sam were invited for lunch aboard the boat. Gordon was busy being host, but never quite seemed to be very far from Virgil.

Sam mentioned the whales several times, but Gordon shut him down and at no point did he have a chance to corner Virgil.

Virgil felt sorry for the cetacean biologist. He must remember to talk to him at a later time. Once he had finished processing today himself.

The whole experience was otherworldly. He didn't quite know how to express it. It was as if the music had shape and form, his mind's eye producing a kaleidoscope of imagery sculpted by sound.

And it meant something.

He knew it meant something, but he couldn't decipher most of it. Bits were missing, the shapes fragmented, but he did feel the emotion that travelled with it. Multidimensional, the song communicated in a way he wasn't capable of fully comprehending.

"Virgil, you should go to bed."

Scott again.

"Mmm-hmm."

"C'mon." A hand landed gently on his shoulder.

"Mmm…" Musical shapes danced in his mind and he realised there was colour. Greens, violets and yellows. Patches torn from an unseen spectrum. It was frustrating to not be able to pull it all into focus and understanding.

"Virgil?"

It would be interesting to try and paint. Yes, maybe that would be a way to understand it better. He visualised forming those shapes with pencil and brush. Three dimensions…no four. They shifted according to time.

Hell. So confusing.

But he could try.

"Virgil? You with me?"

Huh? He blinked and looked up at concerned blue eyes.

A sigh. "Just thinking."

"I can see that. You need rest."

He did, yes, but he also needed to think, to doodle, to work it all out. He caught Scott's eyes. "Sit with me?"

A blink. "Of course."

There followed farewells, Virgil pre-occupied throughout. At some point Mel kissed him on the cheek, but he barely registered it. Sam said something but was interrupted by Gordon. Virgil felt completely spaced and somewhere at the back of his thoughts he was embarrassed at his lack of response and manners.

Scott didn't leave his side.

Gordon made excuses and apologies.

John was speaking to Eos…which meant their guests must have left. Man, he was out of it. Brain overload.

Alan had concerned blue eyes so much like their eldest brother.

The yacht's engine starting up scared the living shit out of him. It shattered his mindscape with aural static, those careful shapes disintegrating.

"Hey, hey, Virgil. It's okay." Scott had his hand on his arm again.

Virgil's heart was thudding in his chest. A blink. A calming breath. A moment. He forced calm. "I'm good."

He was, really. He just had a lot to think about.

"You sure you don't want to sleep?"

"I'm sure." But there was something he did want to do. "Come up front with me?"

Scott frowned at him.

"I just want to feel the sun on my face, the wind in my hair." And get as far away from the engine as possible.

"Sure." A pause. "But you're sitting down."

"Sure." Virgil pushed himself to his feet.

They found a niche on the bow, enough to sit comfortably with some back support. They could see Gordon frowning at them from the cockpit.

Virgil caught the thought and had to stop himself from laughing out loud. Apparently, he was as much a flyboy as his big brother.

The boat was moving at a reasonable speed, Gordon, no doubt, wanting to get home fast due to the day's events. That and now they were behind schedule and had quite a long, final stretch to make it before sunset.

Raoul was little more than a smudge on the horizon already. Virgil stared at it a moment before turning and facing the wide ocean ahead of them that ultimately would contain their island. Wind streamed through his hair.

"It will be good to be home."

Scott didn't hesitate. "Definitely."

Virgil snorted. "Missing your 'bird?"

"Missing land."

"You spent last night on land."

"Not the right land."

Virgil raised an eyebrow at that. "You seemed quite happy with at least one of the inhabitants."

That prompted a smile on his big brother's face. "Fishing for details?"

"Some. Not too much."

Scott turned to him and shrugged. "It was fun. Mel is an interesting woman."

Half a smile. "I'll give her that much." A curious eyebrow. "See it going any further?"

Scott's expression was thoughtful. "Maybe."

"Invite her over for Christmas."

"Tomorrow?"

"Why not?"

"Late notice."

"You have a Thunderbird."

That thoughtfulness increased and a slight smile curved his brother's lips.

"Invite Sam and Liam while you're at it. We owe them cake. Alan ate theirs." And Virgil owed Sam an explanation.

That frown returned. "You sure?"

"Sure. The more the merrier." A snort. "Hell, have them over for a few days. It will give Melissa the chance to check out our ecosystem, she'll be ecstatic." A pause and then quietly. "It will give me a chance to speak to Sam about…" A fractured image came to mind and he realised it meant whale. An indrawn breath. Oh god. One concept. He understood something. He could not reproduce it. It wasn't just sound. It was something else. A combination of visual and auditory. How? His throat froze up. Hell.

"Virgil?"

"I…" The concept tantalised him. His fingers itched for his pencils, his paints and his piano all at once. How?

How?

He swallowed and realised his heart rate was up again. "I…need my tablet…and stylus."

Scott stared at him a moment before standing up and making his way aft.

It was a sign of how preoccupied Virgil was that his tablet appeared almost immediately in his hands.

He didn't hesitate. His fingers pulled up his drawing app, his stylus connected with the surface and lines appeared.

Lines. Curves.

Shapes.

Interwoven.

No.

Not right.

The stylus squeaked across the screen.

More lines. More shapes.

The screen became black with them, so he added colour. It splashed and bled across the lines.

"Virgil."

It still wasn't right.

Frustration stirred and he groaned at the image.

A blink.

Sound.

He scratched more lines, but the moment of inspiration faded.

He couldn't do it.

"Virgil."

It wasn't a single dimension. It was many. Visual, sound and…and…

Emotion.

How?

It all came back to that question.

He let the tablet and stylus drop, clenching his eyes shut and rubbing his face with his hands.

How the hell could he communicate emotion?

-o-o-o-

John squirrelled himself away. Eos had contacted him to give her report, but there was something in her tone that told him not to take it on an open line.

So, he waited until Gordon got the boat moving and Scott had corralled Virgil before retreating to his cabin for some privacy.

"Did you receive a clear enough signal?"

"Affirmative, John. The upgrade to Virgil's comms worked perfectly. I am confident I received the full spectrum of the whale's emissions."

"Any conclusions?"

"Tentative. And at least an explanation why Virgil is so relaxed in their presence."

John frowned. "Show me." The tablet in his hand, the same waterproof device he had clung to as they were tossed from the boat, lit up and a hologram hung above it.

It was a series of graphs mapping sound waves, several equations scrolled down one side. The frown on John's face deepened. That was some seriously complex math. "Talk to me, Eos."

"Multiple carrier waves interact synergistically to create other waves which also carry data. This is truly a multidimensional sound." The waves on several of the graphs split up to show their originating structures.

"Can you decipher a language?"

"Not a simple language, no. Initial assessment leads me to believe this is at least partially a graphical language. The mathematics reveal vector information is part of the transmission."

John's eyes widened. "Any interpretation?"

The graphs disappeared to reveal fragmented moving lines and clouded shape. "These images are calculated using a section of song the mother whale was singing to Virgil."

"Can you see a pattern?"

"Not presently, however, I am still analysing. One aspect to be considered is this…"

A second grouping of graphics appeared beside the main display. This was smaller and lacked colour, the lines far more fragmented and the whole composition was fogged with what appeared to be static. "What?"

"That is Virgil's vocalisation while he was in contact with the whale, if it is run through the same mathematical algorithm." The two graphics were suddenly overlaid together. Virgil's section fit like a piece of a puzzle into the larger composition, as if it was an unfinished section awaiting colour.

"How? Why is Virgil picking this up, but the rest of us are not?"

The graphs returned along with one new one. "I retrieved Virgil's EEG readings from his last head injury." Lines lit up in red on several of the graphs. "Several of the carrier waves create a binaural beat. The result is that at least part of the whale's communication is nestled in frequencies that resonate with human brainwave activity. Virgil's, in particular, appear to align well. I hypothesise that this facilitates his receptivity."

John stared at the lines denoting Virgil's delta wave production. A flick of his fingers and the graph overlaid that section of the whale's vocal output. Delta waves were well known for their calming effect and their influence on sleep. It would definitely explain his brother's thrall and lethargy during each encounter.

The red lines glared at him.

An exhaled breath. "So, no chance of a translation?"

"Not any time soon. The transmission is extremely complex and I have yet to reveal all of the carrier signals, much less decipher the entire data stream."

Eos fell silent a moment and John stared at the graphs, watching them move in rhythm with each other. "Why hasn't this been discovered before?"

"Recording equipment. Of the recordings I have examined, only three have managed to record enough detail to even hint at the complexity. Today's samples are of the highest resolution ever taken. Further clarity would be achieved with multiple recordings."

Which meant more encounters. The sight of Virgil singing on the whale was eerie and unsettling. He may have held back Scott from going to Virgil's assistance, but the truth was he had to hold himself back just as much.

"Is it causing Virgil any harm?"

Eos didn't answer immediately and it gave John the chance to ramp up his concern just a notch.

"I cannot locate any medical effects beyond a tendency towards inducing sleep due to some of the frequencies involved. I would recommend further monitoring, however."

"I agree." An indrawn breath. "Thank you, Eos." He blinked and realised exactly what his daughter had just done. His eyes widened just a little. "Continue analysis. This is an important scientific discovery and you have done some excellent work."

"Really?" Her voice was ever so hopeful, ever so young.

"Of course. I'm looking forward to working on this with you." There was definitely work to be done and soon.

"Thank you, John."

"No, Eos, thank you."

Her giggle bounced across comms. Sometimes so old, yet always ever so young. Her youth was always surprising as was her need for guidance. "Could you please send me Virgil's vitals, both during the encounter and now?"

"Yes, John." More numbers appeared above his tablet. Fortunately, they were all healthy numbers, though Virgil's heart rate was up somewhat. A flick of his fingers and Scott's vitals appeared beside Virgil's. Both brothers' heart rates echoed each other.

John would have felt like he was spying on his family, but he did it so often for reassurance on Five that it now barely registered. Another flick of his fingers and he directed Five to focus on A Little Lightning. He found his eldest brothers on the bow of the yacht. Virgil appeared to be drawing on his tablet.

"He is well, John. I can see no after effects from his encounter."

John wondered if he could coerce his brother into an EEG exam when they made it home. Roping Scott in would probably manage it, but the stress on both of them would be considerable and he hesitated to aggravate either of them.

Perhaps further down the track, or if Virgil gave him any reason for concern.

God, he hoped not.

A sigh. He had probably jinxed himself last night acknowledging the vacation they were on. Since he woke up to Virgil's snoring early that morning, things had changed. Sure, surfing with Gordon had been fun, but seeing Scott stressing over Virgil on the beach and the events that followed right up until they returned to A Little Lightning had been anything but relaxing.

One of Virgil's piano sonatas started playing over his tablet ever so softly.

Despite himself, he smiled. "I'm fine, Eos."

"You're worrying again. This is not good for your hair production."

He blinked. "What?"

"Several sources state that stress can disable the pigment production in human hair follicles, resulting in white, often termed 'grey', hairs. I believe this is a negatively viewed characteristic and I have noted that your elder brothers have encountered this issue already. It causes distress, therefore it should be prevented."

Another blink. "Both of my older brothers have dark hair. Grey becomes very apparent in contrast."

"It will turn your hair pink."

"What?" This conversation was ridiculous. "It is a natural ageing process. There is very little that can be done about it." A breath. "I'm not vain, Eos."

She didn't answer immediately. "But your brothers are?"

"My brothers are my brothers, Eos."

"Well, that makes little sense."

"Just accept them as they are."

"Is it possible to accept them any other way?"

"No, not really."

"Then that statement is redundant."

"Eos."

"Yes?"

Frivolous distraction, Eos-style. She had become quite adept at it. Moving his thoughts off worrying topics. A sigh. "Thank you, Eos."

She didn't answer immediately, but then…

"Did you know Virgil dyes his hair?"

-o-o-o-

Scott watched his brother draw somewhat manically on his tablet. The resultant art was far from what the artist usually produced. This was all sharp lines and angles followed by random blob shapes. At first it was all in pencil, but then Virgil started adding colours. There was no pattern, it was all haphazard and, worse, it appeared to be aggravating him.

"Virgil."

His brother groaned in frustration, his eyebrows creasing his face in half and swallowing the scar on his forehead.

"Virgil."

But he suddenly stopped, realisation on his face morphing into disappointment and more frustration.

The tablet and stylus slipped from Virgil's hands and Scott was hard pressed to catch them.

But he did.

Virgil's eyes were scrunched shut and he rubbed his face with his hands.

Scott glanced at the mess on the tablet and shoved it to one side, turning to his brother. "Virgil, talk to me."

"I can't." It was small and hoarse.

"Can't what?"

"Can't…express, explain…trying to understand…it's a mess…"

Okay, this was well outside his realm, but he knew Virgil. He slipped off his seat and knelt in front him. Gently he pulled those hands away from his brother's face to reveal worried brown eyes. "Stop. Take a breath."

Virgil stared at him a moment before the soft command was obeyed and he drew in air. Those eyes closed briefly and his brother's shoulders dropped. "Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about."

"I ruined it again. I've stressed you out."

"This time, I don't think you had much say in it. Mamma Whale was very determined to say hello." A small smile. "I think you have a music fan."

Virgil snorted softly and Scott knew he'd broken through even if just a little. "She definitely wanted to talk. I just wish I knew what she wanted to say."

"You picked up something, though, didn't you?"

A quiet sigh. "She was happy and surprised." Virgil looked up and stared out into the ocean, but Scott could tell he wasn't seeing the waves.

He wondered what he was thinking.

"How could you tell?"

The frown returned. "I don't know." A pause caught in thought. "The sound makes me feel? The sound is…everything."

Virgil stopped speaking, lost again to whatever was in his head.

Scott swallowed and tried a different tactic. "I think you made a mistake."

Brown eyes snapped to him immediately. "What?"

"You should have asked Mel out. Lost opportunity, bro."

Virgil stared at him. "What?"

"She had the hots for you, Virg, and you ignored her."

"Last time Raoul erupted? She tried to climb me like a tree. Kay had to drag her out of the cockpit."

It was Scott's turn to stare. "Really?"

"She was very exuberant in her thanks."

Scott smiled. "She knows what she likes." And yes, admittedly, she was very good at climbing, after all Scott was taller. His smile widened.

Virgil's stare intensified until plain, straight human communication got the message across and his brother groaned. "God, Scott, TMI."

Total innocence. "I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to. The image is radiating off your skin."

Scott sniggered.

Distraction achieved.

"Well, I did say you lost an opportunity."

"That's fine, Jungle Jim, she's all yours."

Scott shrugged. He could always hope. She certainly knew how to press all his buttons. "Still think we should have her over for Christmas?"

"Yeah, Gordon will love it."

"What about you?"

"I need to speak to Sam."

"You don't have to."

"I want to."

"Okay." A breath. "Just take it easy."

His brother nodded and returned to staring out at the ocean. "It will be good to get home."

Scott stood up slowly and sat back down beside his brother. "Yeah, it will."

So good.

-o-o-o-

"Are we there yet?" Alan's voice was particularly whiny, no doubt, specifically designed to irritate.

Gordon turned away from the helm to look at him. "Do you see an island in front of us?"

Alan shoved his hands in his pockets. "Nope."

"There's your answer."

It had been quiet on the bridge for the last few hours. Gordon was grateful for the time to think. A Little Lightning cut through the water ever so smoothly. It was satisfying to see the swell pass by knowing that they were one wave closer to home.

Gordon loved being out on the ocean. It was his native element. But at the moment he longed for the safety of Tracy Island. That last encounter with the whales had its own sense of wonder, but until he understood exactly what the effect was on his older brother, he wasn't entirely comfortable.

It was weird and unnerving.

And it worried him.

"They been out there long?" Alan was staring at the two men sitting on the bow of the boat.

"Yeah, couple of hours at least."

"Do you think Virgil is okay?"

No. "Yeah, he'll be fine."

Alan eyed him. "I'm not a kid anymore. I don't need protecting. Since when have you become one of them?" He pointed at his eldest brothers.

Gordon sighed. "I'm not. It's just…I don't know, okay? It was weird and amazing and I need to talk to him and he was spaced out and his singing was…"

"Weird?"

"Yeah."

There was silence for a moment, but Gordon knew it wouldn't be long.

Sure enough.

"Do you think Virg can talk to whales?"

"I don't know, Alan." It was said on one long exhale.

"He communicated something, didn't he?"

"I don't know, okay?" And that was the problem. There was so much they didn't know. Gordon was itching to get into the in-depth literature, to find out more and fill the gaps in his knowledge so he could help his brother. He would be speaking to Sam as soon as possible, but for the moment, the priority was getting Virgil home.

"Some vacation." It was said with a pout.

Gordon sighed and shoved on the autopilot before turning to his younger brother. "Alan, out with it."

"What?"

"What's bugging you."

"I thought that was obvious. Virgil going zombie and singing to a whale is enough, don't you think? As if appendicitis wasn't dramatic already."

Gordon stared at Alan. "He is going to be okay."

"You don't know that. You just said so!"

"He sang to a whale, Alan. They are one of the gentlest creatures on the planet. If he was going to choose a weird conversation partner, he chose well."

"But you don't know what it did to him!"

"It didn't do anything to him."

"You don't know that!"

"Alan-"

"Don't lie to me!" The words shot across the bridge and slapped Gordon in the face.

Voice calm and quiet and not a little hurt. "I have never lied to you, Alan."

Blue fire glared at him. "You haven't? Not even to protect the littlest one? Scared I might burst into tears."

Gordon stared at his little brother. "What is it?"

"Have you?!"

"No! I've always told you the truth. You know that!" He let out an aggravated breath. "What is wrong, Allie?"

"What do you think? First you, then Virgil, and now this!"

"What?!" Him? Virgil? Oh…shit. "Virgil is okay. Hell, I'm okay. Allie, we are all fine."

"That's what he keeps saying!" Alan shoved a finger in Virgil's direction. "He's always fine, even when he's not. You're all the same. Big tough guys, nothing is ever wrong. You could be bleeding to death and you'd 'be fine'. What is wrong with admitting you're hurt? What is so wrong with being hurt that you have to hide it?"

Gordon opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"Well, you know what? I'm scared and I'm sick of hiding it. Virgil nearly fell out of the damned sky with his infected appendix. It could have killed him. And now he's scaring everyone with this whale thing." A harshly indrawn breath. "Don't tell me Scott's not worried. I'm not stupid."

Two steps and Gordon was in front of his brother, his hands landing on shoulders that were just that touch higher than his own and tighter strung than Virgil's piano. "Allie, he's going to be okay."

"You keep saying that."

"Because it is true."

Something unintelligible and Alan was wrapped around him like a limpet. Gordon held his little brother. It was unusual and alarming. Alan usually went to Scott for comfort. Gordon was for pranks and cohorting. "It's okay to be upset. It's okay to be worried. You can cry if you need to."

"I'm not going to cry!" Alan pulled away and glared up at Gordon.

"What?"

"Now you think I'm the baby that needs to bawl on your shoulder?"

"What?!" The hell was going on? Some conscious part of his brain was aware of the yacht's engine, the high speed they were travelling and the fact autopilot on water was vastly different from the sky and he really should be paying attention. But Alan needed…something. "Allie, you've lost me. What do you want?!"

"I want Virgil to be okay. I want you to be okay."

"We are okay!"

"Then stop scaring me!"

"I didn't scare you!"

"You….you terrified me, Gordon. You terrified all of us."

"I didn't do it on purpose."

"Still hurt."

"Aww, Allie…" What could he do?

"And now, here you are 'okay', and it could happen again, and…" A shaky swallow. "I'm scared, okay? You're fine. Virgil's fine. But you're not, and…I'm not okay…okay?"

This time it was Gordon wrapping his arms around his not so little brother. "I'm sorry, Allie."

Muffled into Gordon's shoulder. "Not your fault."

"No." But he should have realised it was still messing with his little brother. Alan was the least experienced of them all. Gordon had seen things, done things, things that hopefully Alan would never have to experience. Quietly. "I think Virgil is a little freaked out. I don't think he understands what happened much more than we do. But we are going to find out. I'm going to speak to Sam. We're going to do some research and we will find out why the song affected Virgil the way it did. But he is okay, Alan. Tracy's honour. A little shaken up. A little worried. But he is okay. We'll work through this like we always do."

His brother's arms tightened around him just that little bit more, but Alan didn't say anything.

A rustle of fabric and Gordon looked up to see John standing in the doorway staring at them with a hint of worry in his eyes.

"John?"

Alan startled and pulled away immediately. Turquoise followed his every move.

A slow blink and John stepped onto the bridge. "Eos is deciphering the song. We have a good idea as to why Virgil reacted the way he did." It was said calmly and factually for such a great discovery.

"You do?" Alan found his voice first.

Those eyes latched onto Gordon's. "We do."

The helm beeped.

A blink and Gordon was back at the wheel, scanning their position. A mass of volcanic rock and tropical reef appeared on navigational sensors.

A familiar chunk of rock and reef.

Tracy Island.

Home.

-o-o-o-

End Day Four, Part Five.


	17. Day Four - Pt6

_Title: We'll be home for Christmas_

_Day Four – Five Billionaires and No Wives – Part 6 _

_Author: Gumnut_

_24 May 2020_

_Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS_

_Rating: Teen_

_Summary: The boys can't fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way._

_Word count: 3495_

_Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Artist!Virgil, Minor various ships, mostly background. A little angst in this one along with a little minor sexual reference._

_Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos I started this fic before we saw it._

_Author's note: For scattergraph . This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic :D_

_Wow, written all in one day. I've been rereading the fic and running out of it and wanting more. Unfortunately, for there to be more I had to write more. I checked my archive and the last bit went up on May 11 right before everything at work went to hell, so I'm guessing that was the cause of the delay of this bit. I hope it was worth waiting for. This fic is nearly finished. A few threads to tie up in the next chapter, which, depending on what the characters do (cos they've thrown me two curve balls in this ::glares at both Grandma and Virgil:: so who knows what else they will do). i hope you enjoy it._

_Many thanks to i-am-chidorixblossom scribbles97 and onereyofstarlight for reading through various bits, fielding my many wibblies, and for all their wonderful support._

_Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother._

-o-o-o-

Scott stared as his home crawled over the horizon. Lit from the west, the peaks of Tracy Island were sculpted in gold, the water surrounding her sparkling in the dying sun.

It was a beautiful sight.

Virgil shifted against him, snorting softly in sleep.

Scott had been out on the bow of the boat for hours. First talking to Virgil, working through some of the events of the day until his exhausted brother slowly tipped sideways, falling asleep despite the breeze and the soft toss of the boat.

Scott just wrapped an arm around him and held him while his brother slept.

His butt was numb from lack of circulation, but he didn't care.

John had approached at one point and quietly handed him a tablet full of information about whales. It was full of data he didn't understand and he desperately needed to talk to his genius brother about what it all meant.

But for the moment, he was content to listen to Virgil's breathing, the wind and watch their home inch closer and closer.

He was aware of Gordon keeping an eye on both of them, the pilot adding more speed to the journey today than he had any other day. There had been relaxation, but all of that had disappeared with recent events.

Hell, it had disappeared the moment they had discovered the trapped calf.

Fire ignited in his belly at the thought. He needed to speak with Penelope and follow up on what had happened to those responsible.

His father's desk lay waiting on the Island.

Relief and dread waited with it.

He closed his eyes and evened out his breathing. It had been such a relief to let go last night. Mel had met his energy with her own, her hands in his hair, a pardon on her lips. No ties, no obligation, just a moment to be himself, find comfort in her arms and let go.

He was ever so grateful. His brothers may laugh, but it was the only way he could truly release everything that built up day after day. Life was a challenge and he was willing to take it on, but everyone needed a moment.

Mel had given him that moment...and a little more.

Virgil shifted against him as Gordon turned the boat slightly and began to slow on approach.

Scott opened his eyes to watch Mateo shift to starboard. The bow dropped a little as their speed lessened, the background noise of the engine changing pitch.

Virgil muttered something and shifted again.

Scott held him that little bit tighter.

A Little Lightning arced around the smaller island that protected their caldera from the open ocean and the yacht entered the sheltered lagoon smoothly.

The petrel colony raised a ruckus and squawked like crazy as they motored past, Gordon cutting their speed to almost nothing as the yacht coasted over coral.

There were two docks on Tracy Island. One on either side of the villa. Gordon chose the one adjacent to Two's runway for obvious reasons. It was harder to dock such a large vessel, but it would be easier to get Virgil onto land, and, via the hangars, up to the villa. The other dock, near the beach huts, required a hike up to the house that Virgil was in no shape to make. Scott had checked his brother's incisions earlier in the day and they were well into healing, but...it had been a weird day and Virgil was still asleep.

Gordon nudged the yacht ever so slowly up to the little used dock. It had been designed for supply delivery early on in the venture, but once the runway had been built, it had been used for little other than the occasional Thunderbird Four testing regime and a little recreational boating.

Nothing as big as A Little Lightning.

Gordon had mentioned early on that they would likely use the inflatable when they reached home, but the aquanaut had obviously changed his mind.

Virgil was definitely the reason.

John darted past Scott and Virgil, docking pole in hand, turquoise eyes targeting both of them. He didn't say anything, but the concerned frown shot at Scott said everything.

Ropes were launched at the wharf bollards and the engine dropped down to a bare rumble. Alan yelled an acknowledgement at the back of the boat and John held up a hand to signal to Gordon. A slight shift sideways and A Little Lightning nudged up against Tracy Island and was secured.

Gordon cut the engine and its absence was profound.

John turned and smiled at him.

They were home.

-o-o-o-

Soft fingers touched his cheek.

"Honey, it's time to wake up."

He screwed up his face. He was in that pleasant warm place just below consciousness and he didn't want to leave it.

But his pillow rumbled just a little with quiet laughter. Cotton moved against his temple and an arm tightened gently around him.

"You're going to have to be more direct than that, Grandma."

Those words, said in his brother's voice, and enough neurons came online to recognise that he was curled up on something hard, leaning against...the warm cotton shifted and a breath was drawn in. A heartbeat pulsed against his ear, slow and sure.

The whirr of a scanner made him frown.

Light flickered under his eyelids and he clenched his eyes shut.

"C'mon, Virgil, we're home. You can't sleep out here all night and my butt is going to drop off if it doesn't get circulation soon."

Another voice piped up. "And then you'll have to face Mel for the loss of that perfect butt."

"What do you know about Scott's butt?" Higher pitched. Alan?

"Remember number twenty-nine? Or was it twenty-eight? The one that worked in that circus we saved from the flood? She wrote letters about it."

His pillow shifted sharply. "What the hell, Gordon?"

"Hey, you're the one who left your email open for all to see."

"It is encrypted!"

"Only to those who don't know the encryption code, Scotty."

"Boys, keep it down. Give Virgil a chance to wake up properly."

He found his mouth. "Too late." A groan and he was pushing himself upright. Everything complained.

Everything. His gut, his back, the numb leg that had somehow been denied blood when he leant on it.

Several hands helped him sit up and he found himself blinking against the golden light of sunset.

Sunset?

What the hell?

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Long enough." His eldest brother was standing up, stretching his limbs and obviously rubbing blood back into his extremities. "You're heavy." But the smile Scott sent him was fond and happy. "We're home, Virg."

John, Alan and Gordon were arrayed beyond Scott, but as he turned his head, two other presences made themselves known. Grandma was in front of him, scanner in hand, blue eyes frowning at him in concern.

And on the dock, beyond the railing, stood Kayo.

Her frown vanished the moment she realised he was looking at her and was replaced with a small smile. "Welcome home."

It was addressed to all of them, but she was looking at him when she said it.

"Let's get you off this boat, young man."

Yes! He was home. His 'bird's runway stretched along the cliff above them and the whole purpose of the boat trip came home to rest in his heart. As he stood, Scott helping him to his feet, he turned to his brothers. "Thank you." He could claim that his voice was rough from his half drowning a few hours ago. "Thank you for taking me home. You didn't have to, but you did anyway." Okay, now he was getting emotional. "Thank you."

An arm slung about his shoulders. "Anytime, Virgil, anytime." Scott's eyes flashed almost green in the evening light.

Alan muttered something and darted past Gordon to wrap his arms around Virgil. "Don't do that again."

Virgil blinked. "Not planning on it." He wasn't sure whether Alan was referring to his appendix or the whale thing, but whatever. His arm came around his brother and held him tight.

John's smile was soft, but full of enough to swell Virgil's heart.

Gordon...

A moment and Virgil untangled himself from Scott and Alan, took those few steps to his fish brother and smothered him in a massive hug. As expected, Gordon squawked and struggled just enough to make his protest shown, but Virgil hung on.

"Thank you, Gordon. Best idea ever."

Arms encircled his waist, but his brother didn't answer.

The moment was broken by Grandma placing a gentle hand on his arm. "Virgil, I would like to do a full medscan. John reported that you've been rather active today." Virgil shot a look at his younger brother. John just smiled a little more and shrugged.

It was to be expected. Virgil would have done the same thing under the circumstances.

He sighed and let Gordon go.

Russet brown stared up at him a moment before Gordon stepped aside and gestured Virgil towards the gangplank that connected A Little Lightning to the dock.

Scott materialised on one side and John on the other and he had to force himself not to roll his eyes in exasperation.

Between the two of them, they made sure he stepped securely onto solid ground, ghosted him up the hill to the runway and to one of the little runabouts they used to transport cargo about the Island. It was clear that he was the cargo.

Well, at least it wasn't a hoverstretcher.

He let out a sigh as Scott drove him into Two's hangar and his 'bird loomed over him.

Home.

It was a matter of elevators and examinations after that. Grandma was very thorough. The word 'pneumonia' was bandied about as a possibility if he didn't look after himself properly. Apparently, he had breathed in a little too much seawater.

Fortunately, his incisions were quite happy and well on the mend despite the two dunkings for the day. Grandma didn't frown at him, but the firm line of her lips was enough to keep him quiet.

You did not mess around with Grandma regarding medical matters.

Hell, when cornering his brothers as a medic himself, often the only threat that kept them corralled was that he would bring in Grandma if they didn't behave.

When Virgil was ill, there was no-one else. Grandma was always the one who looked after him. She always had.

And, in turn, he now looked after her.

"What happened out there, Virgil?" Her voice was soft. They were alone and his grandmother was putting away her instruments. She had run him through everything, even a brain scan. She was obviously concerned.

"I don't know, Grandma."

"John says you spoke to whales."

He shook his head and let it drop. "I don't know."

A finger caught his chin and drew his head up to look into her eyes. "You keep yourself safe, Virgil. You hear me? You have family who need you. Family who love you."

"I'm okay, Grandma."

She stared at him a moment longer before letting out a breath and turning back to her instruments. "You're off rescues for another week, but I suspect you knew that."

He did, but part of him had hoped he could shorten it. One glance at Grandma and he knew he didn't have a hope. "Yes, standard recovery period for an operation of this type."

Blue eyes shot a suspicious glare at him, but he didn't respond.

"Lots of bed rest. None of your heavy lifting. No gym until next week."

Damn. "Yes, Grandma."

She turned back and he was in her arms. "Welcome home, Virgil."

He blinked and returned the hug. "I'm fine, Grandma."

Those arms tightened just a fraction.

He frowned. "Grandma?"

She let him go and turned away. "You better go downstairs. Kayo has dinner ready for all of us. It's Christmas Eve." She straightened up and looked at him, her eyes saying something he couldn't quite decipher. "We should celebrate as a family."

"Okay."

Her hand landed on his arm and squeezed gently before letting go. He took that as a dismissal, slid off the bed and grabbed his shirt. "Thank you, Grandma."

She didn't turn. "I'll see you down there shortly."

He frowned, but did as she asked and headed off to the comms room.

-o-o-o-

Scott stared at John and Gordon. "You think he is actually communicating with the whales."

A pair of copper eyebrows rose. "We think so."

"But Virgil told me himself that he doesn't understand it."

Eos' voice was deceptively wise. "Commander, he may not understand consciously, but subconsciously."

"Explain." Scott glared at the simulacrum of spinning lights on the holoprojector.

"His brain is at least partly processing the information, enough to receive an impression of the content, but not enough to clarify it. He has processed enough to produce a vocalisation that connects with the whales despite the lack of range in his vocal cords. Humans cannot produce the sound required to emulate whale song without electronic enhancement. Virgil's physical contact appears to have amplified his emissions enough for the whale to recognise his voice as a form of communication." A graphic appeared on the 'projector. A small portion was set aside and fit into the larger like a puzzle piece. "The whale was able to clarify his vocalisation into something that could be understood."

"What did Virgil say?"

John answered him. "We don't know."

"We should ask him." Gordon stood up. "And I think he should be part of this conversation."

Scott bit back a retort. Every bone in his body wanted to protect Virgil from this.

But he knew he couldn't.

Sagging, he sat down on the couch behind him and nodded.

Gordon stepped around the 'projector and perched beside him. "Sam and I will find out more. I promise, Scott. This is a major breakthrough, you know that."

Scott turned slowly to look at his little brother. "You saw what it did to him."

"Do you trust me, Scott?" Russet brown bared his little brother's soul.

He stared into those eyes. Little rapscallion Gordy, the prankster of the family. The ray of sunshine on moments so dark Scott feared his own survival. Did he trust Gordon? Trust him with Virgil's life?

All the time.

"Yes, I do."

Gordon swallowed. "Then trust me with this. I'll keep him safe. I promise. We'll work this out. Discover what it means. What exactly is going on."

John cleared his throat. "Perhaps you should both speak to Virgil first?"

Scott turned to find his engineer brother standing by the kitchen stairs, staring at them.

-o-o-o-

"Virgil-"

"No!" His older brother threw his hands up and Gordon took a step back. "I don't want to talk about it."

So, of course, Scott took a step forward. "Vir-"

"No, Scott! Not now. Just leave it. I need to work this out for myself. I...I thank you for the information, John, Eos." He nodded to the 'projector. "Gordon, I understand the interest and I...empathise." He sighed. "I just need time, guys, okay?"

"Okay." It was parched and apparently his voice. The frown creasing Gordon's forehead was deep enough to hurt. Why wasn't Virgil letting him help?

His brother reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Just some time, Gords, please."

"Okay."

"Then I'll come to you." Eyes a deeper brown than his own were pleading for understanding. "I promise."

"Okay." Gordon swallowed and cleared his throat. "Well, in that case, I vote we go eat before Alan inhales everything." It was a simple distraction, but it worked.

Virgil squeezed his shoulder, his expression flashing thanks before turning away. The tension in the man's back was pulling his shirt tight.

Maybe he was right. Maybe they should wait.

A blink and another swallow and Gordon followed Virgil from the room, Scott and John behind him.

-o-o-o-

The evening was a quiet one. All five brothers were tired after the day's events, even Virgil who, despite having slept a few hours in the morning and afternoon, still looked like he was going to fall on his face at any moment.

Even Grandma was more reserved than usual, her gaze landing on Virgil repeatedly, her eyes distant as if in thought.

It was unnerving.

Kayo served dinner. A buffet of Asian dishes accompanied by rice and noodles. Most were purchased, but she had also made her own stir fry, a family favourite with just the right amount of chilli and cilantro. An appropriate welcome back feast, but none of them had the energy to truly appreciate it as much as it deserved.

After dinner saw them stocking presents under the massive Christmas tree in the comms room. Alan made various comments, especially when Virgil lugged out what was likely a painting wrapped in several layers of wrapping paper.

The fact he lugged it by himself led to words from Scott and the present being confiscated. Virgil's protest that it wasn't heavy was followed up by John stepping between the two of them and declaring he was going to help Virgil with his load. The two of them disappeared upstairs and Gordon was left with a grumpy Scott.

The whole lack of spirit finally cracked the aquanaut and he grabbed some tinsel off the tree, wrapped it into a ball and threw it at Scott's head.

The astonishment on his big brother's face was worth it.

Scott carefully placed the painting-shaped present down beside the tree and turned to verbally retaliate only to have his face muffled by a lounge cushion thrown by Alan.

"Bullseye!"

Gordon idly noted Brains taking one look at the resultant expression on Scott's face and, grabbing Max, making a beeline for the elevator.

"Alan!"

"Yes, Scott?"

Gordon threw another ball of tinsel, silvery strands fluttering in the air as it flew.

"Gordon!"

Another couch cushion whacked Scott in the face."

"Ala-"

More tinsel to the head.

Hmm, this tree really did have a lot of tinsel on it, but just in case, Gordon darted in and grabbed two of the balls he had already thrown.

He was not surprised when the remaining tinsel ball retaliated and hit him between the eyes.

Alan was landed by a return cushion volley. Scott really was a good shot.

"Oh, you are going down, bro." Alan was positively gleeful and before they knew it, cushions, tinsel, several Christmas baubles and a pile of tribbles were hurtling back and forth across the room.

Kayo stood to one side and just rolled her eyes. Grandma joined in and was the likely source of the tribbles.

When John and Virgil returned, it was to utter chaos and not a small amount of laughter. Both got tribbles stuffed down their shirts and tinsel bounced off their heads.

John protested loudly at the use of his tribble stash, but Grandma told him to lighten up...right before she bounced one off his nose.

What followed that was a free for all.

The night got better, much to Gordon's relief. His brothers loosened up, a little alcohol was dragged out and moods mellowed.

Of course, Alan was the first to nod off, curled up beside Gordon. He was fast followed by Virgil who yet again fell asleep on Scott. The worry that appeared on Scott's face only made Gordon's heart sink.

Grandma called it then, sending them all off to bed.

Virgil was nudged awake enough for Scott and John to get him on his feet and guide him to his bed. Gordon shouldered Alan and dragged him to the elevator.

"Thans, Gords."

"Not a problem, bro." The elevator was taking forever to return.

Alan turned into Gordon's shoulder and slumped against it, half snoring.

"C'mon, Allie." The elevator arrived and he helped his little brother aboard. If there was one thing Alan had in common with Virgil it was his ability to sleep.

Some complaints about the boat still rocking and Gordon tumbled his little brother into his bed. Shoes off, covers on. Gordon sat down beside his sleeping brother.

It had been one hell of a trip and now it was over. It was less than a week since Virgil folded in his pilot's seat, yet it seemed years ago. One boat, four days and five brothers.

Alan rolled over and snorted in his sleep.

Gordon reached out and placed his hand on his arm.

"I'm gonna getcha, John." It was quiet and mumbled into Alan's pillow, but it was enough to push Gordon to his feet.

Blimey.

A blink that lasted longer than it should have and Gordon realised he was exhausted. One more glance at his little brother who was now muttering something about space resources and was no doubt plotting his brother's video game demise, and Gordon made his way to the door.

One boat, four days, five brothers...and tomorrow.

Gordon went to bed.

-o-o-o-

End Day Four.


	18. Day Five - Pt1

_Title: We'll be home for Christmas_

_Day Five – Here on Tracy Island – Part 1_

_Author: Gumnut_

_20 Jun 2020_

_Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS_

_Rating: Teen_

_Summary: The boys can't fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way._

_Word count: 3313_

_Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Artist!Virgil, Minor various ships, mostly background. _

_Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos I started this fic before we saw it._

_Author's note: For scattergraph . This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic :D_

_No, I haven't forgotten about this fic, and yes, it hit the six month mark about two weeks ago. I started writing this 8 Dec 2019. I'm nearly there._

_Landmark, though. It is now officially my longest Thunderbirds fic, overtaking Gentle Rain today at around 60,000 words, depending on which word processing program it is sitting in. Never expected it to be this long._

_This chapter pretty much wrote itself. It is almost like a role call of the five brothers and their states of mind. So a little bit of all the bros in this. I hope you enjoy._

_Many thanks to i-am-chidorixblossom scribbles97 and onereyofstarlight for reading through various bits, fielding my many wibblies, and for all their wonderful support._

_Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother._

-o-o-o-

**Day Five: Here on Tracy Island**

Virgil woke late the next morning. It was a pleasant awakening, slipping from deep sleep to doze to a peaceful warmth beneath the covers. His room was dark. Darker than his cabin on A Little Lightning and with decidedly less sway.

He lay there for a while, enjoying the lack of need to get up and do anything and the absence of pain. He had slept the sleep of the dead and was thoroughly rested. There was something to be said about sleeping in your own bed at home that no holiday anywhere could provide.

But honestly, he wasn't one to sit and do nothing for long, his brain kicking into gear while he lay there, listing off things waiting to be done. A visit to Two to reassure himself she had been checked over and was ready should she be needed. Not that he didn't trust his family, it was just for his own peace of mind.

He should be able to get away with it so long as he didn't spend too much time down there.

It took him a full half an hour of random rumination to realise that it was Christmas Day.

Oh shit.

The clock said eleven am.

His family...

He sat up abruptly and was thoroughly reminded of how stupid such a move was.

Oh, for the love of...

He grunted and rolled over until his face was smothered in his pillow.

The medic in his brain listed off the reasons why he shouldn't have done that and why he needed to be careful and, goddamnit, he was sick of this. It was only an appendix, for crying out loud.

Stupid surgery.

That could have been so much worse.

He was being a spoilt child.

He let out a breath into his pillow, its warmth wrapping around his face. Another week and he would be fine.

But now, it was eleven oh five on Christmas morning and he was holding his family up.

He clambered out of bed with minimal complaint from his body, into the shower, a shave and into his familiar red flannel, jeans and boots.

It was such a comfort to be home.

He blow-dried his hair, gelled it up and made himself presentable.

The man who stared at him from his bathroom mirror was one appendix less and a whole pile of experience more.

He hummed to himself, tasting the notes in his throat. He could feel the soft whale skin under his fingertips, hear the lap of the water, the breeze in his hair...

And the music.

His eyes were closed without permission, the imagery taking over his mind. His fingers tapped against the bathroom vanity marking out the beat and rhythm of what he was trying to say, the pictures warping into abstract and lack of understanding.

Salty and long spoken, the notes repeated.

He didn't know how long he stood there under the bathroom light, eyes seeing another world somewhere below the ocean surface.

By the time he shook off the haze it was eleven forty-five.

Almost lunchtime.

Alan would be foaming at the bit.

He pushed himself away from the sink and killed the light. Walking carefully across his room, he shook himself, rolling his shoulders. Get it together, Virgil. Your family is waiting for you.

Out through the door, down the corridor and, screw the stairs, he was taking the elevator.

It swallowed him whole.

-o-o-o-

Gordon had been up since before the sun. It was a sign that he was home. A session in the pool brought familiarity into the equation. There was definitely a difference between swimming in the pool versus the ocean and it had nothing to do with water salinity.

The ocean was beautiful and he adored it. But the pool sported no threat, no need to monitor his surroundings beyond the presence of a mischievous brother or two, leaving him to be able to focus on his stroke and let his mind wander.

The pleasant warmth of well used muscles pulling him forward through the water, simple thought processing...and considering the last few days, there were a lot of thoughts awaiting examination.

Some he had managed while piloting A Little Lightning on the home stretch, but there were still more needing answers and tactical decisions.

Sam. Mel. Scott. John. Virgil.

As far as he knew, Scott was still planning on inviting the neighbours over today. That would place Sam within reach of the apparently resistant Virgil.

He understood where both men were coming from. Virgil needed time and Sam was just a ball of eager energy.

Gordon was stuck between the two.

Push came to shove, he would side with Virgil regardless. He had too. But he really didn't want to be divisive. If Virgil would talk just a little, it would help not only Sam and himself, but it might assuage the ball of worried energy that was Scott.

His arms sliced through water until he reached the end of the lane, his body automatically flipping and turning into the push off surge in the opposite direction. Air, splash and his hands slicing through the water again.

Okay, he would admit that he was worried himself. At first it was just amazing. His brother could sing to whales! A breakthrough. But yesterday he witnessed exactly how spaced Virgil became when singing and everything screamed wary. Humpback whales were beautiful creatures, but so big and so possibly unintentionally dangerous.

He couldn't let Virgil anywhere near a whale alone. It just wasn't safe. There was so much they didn't know and the urge to protect his gentle brother just swelled in his heart.

They needed to investigate further. Find out exactly what was going on. Make sure his brother was safe. That it didn't affect any water rescues.

They couldn't afford to have Virgil spacing out in the ocean at random. As it was, Gordon wasn't going to let Virgil anywhere near the ocean during rescues for the foreseeable future. He could stay up in Two.

Safe.

Whale song could travel around the globe.

His native realm had become a hazard for his big brother and that was unacceptable.

They had to find out what was going on.

John and Eos had made a good start, but Sam and himself needed to investigate further and soon.

Virgil needed to cooperate for his own safety.

Gordon broke his stroke, pushed himself to the side of the pool and rested his head on the concrete a moment, letting his body float randomly.

Blood pumped through his ears, his heart still running at exercise rate.

He needed to convince Virgil.

Somehow.

-o-o-o-

Scott revelled in the early dawn light. His feet pounded on his wonderfully familiar route around the Island. A trek he hadn't laid eyes on for a week.

His runners crunched volcanic gravel beneath them.

The sun was just rising on Christmas Day, the beautiful weather hanging strong, the sea a stretch of glass disappearing off into the horizon. His current trajectory pointed him directly south where he knew beyond the glass lay Raoul Island. A single spot in a sea of blue, so similar to the even tinier spot that was Tracy Island.

Same sea of blue.

A pokey tree appeared on the side of the track, its red flowers quite glorious in the morning sun, and he found himself grinning. Sure, he knew the correct name of the pōhutukawa tree, but Alan's name was so much easier to pronounce and it made Mel laugh.

His legs took the strain as he jogged up the rapidly steepening trail.

If he was honest with himself, the whole no strings attached thing was a lie. He found himself thinking about the woman more the longer they were away from Raoul.

And they only left yesterday.

As soon as the sun was high enough in the sky to be polite, he would be contacting Raoul with his invitation to her, Sam and Liam. It wasn't the only time he had invited people to the Island, they weren't entirely hermits, but it was rare and the first time in a long time.

And he was so looking forward to it.

Penny and Parker were due after breakfast as was the tradition. As soon as everyone was awake, they would have their present opening party, always a major family event. More for the company and laughter than the presents themselves.

He could almost hear Gordon declaring it 'Tracy style' complete with the arm movements to compliment the claim.

But Mel...it was like he was excited to show her the Island, perhaps because he knew she would be very interested in the ecosystem that had developed here since their father had begun repairing it over a decade ago.

And he was staring at it right now as he followed the path around the back of the Island. Pokey trees, palms and ferns were everywhere a foothold was available. Scott knew very little about their ecosystem beyond the need to keep it safe. Gordon and Virgil were the ones who knew most about it among the brothers. Gordon focussed on the sea and Virgil sometimes helped out with animal numbers and photography for the scientific group.

But Mel hadn't been here since Dad...

He grunted and hurdled a rock he hurdled every morning as the slope inverted and started heading down. The view was stunning.

Despite the glass of the ocean, the swell still crashed on the back cliffs of the Island, jagged volcanic rock resistant to the relentless pounding.

Hopefully she would consent to the visit even though it was late notice.

He did have a Thunderbird, after all.

-o-o-o-

John hadn't slept much. He never did when something was on his mind. His everything drove him to find a solution, particularly when a brother was involved.

Eos never slept, so she was the perfect insomnia companion.

There was also the factor that he was home, but he really wasn't.

He was missing Five.

Now he was back on the Island, everything was screaming at him to go home.

Not that he didn't like the Island, quite the opposite. The Island contained his brothers, his grandmother, Kayo, his family and he adored his family.

But the stars were calling to him. His body ached to feel the release from gravity. He wanted his home.

He ignored it.

His body needed gravity. It was an undeniable fact. It had evolved under the pressure exerted by the planet and while his mind adored the stars and the lack of gravity, nature demanded its return under the 'use it or lose it' mandate of life on Earth.

So, tired, but awake anyway as the sun hit the front of the villa, John made his way down to the pool where he found Gordon, as expected, in the water, but unexpectedly, not swimming. His head was lying on one arm at the edge of the pool, his body floating lazily behind.

John dropped his towel on a lounger and, bare footed to the edge next to his brother. Folding himself into a seated position he dropped his feet to dangle in the cool water.

"Gordon?"

"Hmm?" His head rose a little blearily. "Oh, John, hey."

"Merry Christmas."

"Huh? What, oh, Merry Christmas, John."

A frown. "You okay?"

Gordon flexed his shoulders. "Yeah, just thinking."

"Virgil?"

"Yeah."

John sighed. "Same. But you do know he's okay?"

"Yeah, just thinking it through."

John pushed himself into the water and couldn't help a relieved sigh as the water took away so many of the effects of gravity, cradling his body. "Swim with me?"

Brown eyes turned to him and John saw a reflection of his own worry in their depths. "Sure." Gordon pushed off from the edge, his movements graceful despite his distraction.

John moved to the lane next to Gordon's preferred and lined up beside his fish brother. Gordon shot him a brief but grateful smile before pushing off the end in a careless surge into stroke. He was metres ahead before John had even shifted into form.

Typical.

Show off.

But he couldn't help but smile as he pushed off the edge himself, automatically moving into a strong but leisurely stroke in warm up.

Swimming denied verbal communication, but it wasn't needed, the two of them just keeping each other company.

By the fifth lap, John started pushing himself, putting his body through the exercise needed to keep it healthy. He had no delusions of keeping up with Gordon. He just paced himself as his body needed it. Twenty laps in, he eased up a little and checked on his brother.

Gordon was still going. John brought himself to a halt, treading water, muscles pleasantly buzzing.

"Hey, John." The astronaut startled, turning in place to find Scott standing on the edge of the pool. His running gear appeared well used, sweat stains prominent, and he was still breathing heavily. "Just letting you know that I'm going to be taking One out in about half an hour."

"You going to get Mel and Sam?" Gordon was suddenly beside him. It was a sign of how tired John actually was that his younger brother startled him almost as much as Scott had a moment earlier.

"Yeah."

"Can I come with?"

"Don't you want to be here for when Penny arrives?"

John arched an eyebrow in Gordon's direction. The fish had been looking forward to Christmas for that very reason. Before Virgil's illness, it had been Penelope this, Penelope that. Apparently, he had the 'best' gift lined up for their first Christmas as a couple. Whether or not that was still going ahead considering recent events, John had no idea. Gordon hadn't mentioned it since Virgil fell ill.

"I thought you had the fastest plane on the planet, Scotty."

Their eldest brother snorted. "Plane, yes, younger brother, no."

"Hey, I can be fast." A strawberry blond frown. "Regardless, I need to speak to Sam."

Scott eyed him a moment. "Virgil?"

Gordon sighed. "Yeah, Virgil. Gotta handle this delicately."

Scott's lips thinned. "Okay, then you better be ready in thirty because that's when I'm leaving."

The fish was already climbing out of the pool. Wet footprints marked the concrete as he strode to his towel.

Blue eyes turned to John. "You okay? You look tired."

John let water run through his fingers. "I am, but I'll live."

Voice quiet. "Virgil?"

A single nod, voice equally quiet. "Virgil. Eos, Gordon and I will work it out. We just need time." And patience. Admittedly, he didn't have much of that where his brothers' health was concerned. He could fake it, but it didn't mean he felt it.

Scott's expression was thoughtful. "I know you will do your best. Don't forget to look after yourself."

A groan. This was why Virgil was always adamant that he was fine. I single hint of something wrong and their biggest brother was all over them, his concern obvious. "I'm fine, Scott."

That earned him a grunt and John actually struggled not to smile at his brother's exasperation. John swam to the pool edge and pushed himself out of the water. A wave in the direction of the rising sun's reflection. "The pool is all yours, dear brother."

Scott eyed him. "Thank you."

The morning breeze cooled John enough to raise goose pimples on his arms. Before he could reach for his towel, Scott was handing it to him.

Ever the big brother. It was John's turn to eye him back. "Thank you."

Scott smiled at him, a definite smirk on those lips. He knew exactly what John was thinking and had likely done it on purpose. "Anytime."

Hmmm. "Merry Christmas, Scott."

Those blue eyes widened as his big brother obviously realised that despite all the preparations underway, despite the tree they had stacked with presents the night before, he had still managed to forget the significance of the day.

It was John's turn to smirk.

But Scott recovered quickly, tilting his head, a small smile on his lips. "Merry Christmas, John."

With that he turned and headed off into the house.

-o-o-o-

Alan loved to sleep in. He shared this love with his second eldest brother. Getting up early sucked big time and he had no coffee addiction to help him.

But there was one day of the year when you could witness the youngest Tracy out of bed, while not early, at least a decent time where breakfast could still be called breakfast and not lunch or even brunch.

Christmas Day.

Alan adored the day. Presents, food and family, what more could a guy ask for?

So, eight am found him stumbling down the stairs to the kitchen in search of the second and third items on the list. He found Grandma at the kitchen table eating her fruit and yoghurt.

Alan made no effort to be quiet, but she didn't appear to realise he was there, staring out across the lagoon. "Grandma?"

She dropped her spoon with a clatter as it hit the bowl. "Alan!" She clutched her hand to her chest, gasping. "You frightened me. Gave my old heart a kick in the pants."

"Sorry, Grandma. Are you okay?"

"This time. Though I wouldn't recommend doing it too often." She held out an arm. "C'mere and give me a Christmas hug."

Now that was something he was quite happy to do. Grandma hugs were always appreciated. "Merry Christmas, Grandma." He held her tight.

"Merry Christmas, honey. Are you hungry?"

Uh, that was always a loaded question and there were important indicators related to that. "Where is everyone?" He had expected to find at least John down here. His space brother would eat his breakfast staring out into the lagoon and follow it with work on his tablet just to be around family in his own way. But not today.

"Scott and Gordon have gone to Raoul to collect Ms Fisher and that scientist friend of Gordon's."

"Sam?"

"I guess. They were both in quite a hurry to leave."

That set Alan grinning. "I think Scott likes Mel."

An arched eyebrow. "I thought she liked Virgil."

A snort accompanied the grin. "I don't think she is Virgil's kind of girl."

Of course, that was the very moment Kayo decided to enter the kitchen. She had obviously been on a run, dressed in shorts and a high cut top.

"Who's Virgil's kind of girl?"

Alan's eyes widened. "Um."

Green narrowed at him. "What are you up to, Alan?"

"Nothing!" He held out his hands. "What did I do?"

"I'm more concerned with what you are going to do."

"Suspicious, much? I'm going to eat breakfast, that's what."

She continued to eye him. "No practical jokes today."

"I wasn't planning on it. Gee, you'd think I was Gordy or something."

"Gordon will be contained by Lady Penelope. You, however, are not."

"And what? That makes me some kind of prank genius?"

"Genius, no, annoyance, yes."

"Hey, Merry Christmas, Kayo. How about a little of the spirit?"

She glared and him and grunted before turning away and stalking off.

"What's up her skirt?"

"Alan!"

"Well, you saw her. I didn't do anything!"

Grandma was quiet a moment. "She has things on her mind."

"When doesn't she?"

"Let her be."

"I didn't do anything!"

Grandma sighed. "Things will work themselves out for the best."

Alan stared at his grandmother. What on Earth was going on? Did everyone know something that he didn't. He sighed. Wouldn't be the first time. "I'm going grab some breakfast."

"Yes, dear." And Grandma was staring out at the lagoon again.

What the-?

Alan grabbed the refrigerator door and flung it open, his eyes raking its contents. Perhaps food would fix things.

A glance at Grandma found that she hadn't moved.

There was definitely something going on.

-o-o-o-

End Day 5 Part 1


	19. Day Five - Pt2

Aaand here we have the little bit of Virgil/Kayo in this fic.

This fic is my tagsecretsanta fic for 2019 and it is for scattergraph Many thanks to scribbles97 and vegetacide for their reading of this when I get confused and wibbly.

Warnings: V/K, family fluff.

-o-o-o-

Virgil walked into a comms room full of people.

Extra chairs and loungers had been set up on the balcony. Penelope was ever so poised in one. Gordon sat to one side, not quite so poised but obviously putting in effort. He even had a decent set of clothes on and his hair was kind of tidy.

Virgil suppressed a smile.

Across from Gordon sat Sam and Liam. Penelope appeared extremely engaged with the conversation. Actually, Gordon was now looking decidedly uncomfortable. He shot a glare at Sam just as Penelope let out an elegant laugh.

Virgil grinned. It looked like it was story time.

John and Alan were crowded around the holoprojector which was currently displaying a large chunk of rock. Elspeth was gesturing at it and talking a mile a minute. Alan was bouncing where he stood, while John had one of his bemused smiles on his face as he looked down at his excited little brother.

Hmmm, Thunderbird Five show and tell would be his guess.

A sharp bark drew Virgil's attention to Sherbet, who was glaring up at Max. Both Brains and Parker were hovering. Parker muttering at Max. Brains frowning at Sherbet. Virgil wondered if he was going to have to intervene on that one.

But a laugh drew his attention away.

Scott's laugh.

He was sitting between Melissa and Grandma. Virgil had no idea what had been said, but his brother was grinning ear to ear. Grandma had her hand on his shoulder and Melissa laid a hand on his knee. Whatever they were talking about, Scott was happy and that was a bonus in his book.

Food smells were wafting across the room, blown up the stairs from the kitchen by the breeze outside.

It gently ruffled his hair.

"Good morning, Virgil. How are you feeling?" Soft, melodious and right in his ear. He jumped.

A soft hand steadied him and a pair of green eyes smiled in amusement.

"Kayo! Why?" It was exasperation.

She leant in so only he could hear her. "Because I can." Her smile widened.

But her hand didn't leave his arm. "How are you feeling?"

"Startled, just like you planned."

Her laugh was a beautiful thing.

He found himself staring at her lips.

"You haven't answered my question, though."

"Huh?"

Those lips curved again.

Her hand left his arm, only to touch his chin, lifting his head so his eyes met hers. Green assessed him. "You slept well?"

"Yes."

"Are you in any pain?"

He frowned. "No."

"Are you hungry?"

He opened his mouth to answer in the affirmative, but suddenly her finger was on his lips.

His eyes widened. What was she doing?

"I am sorry, Virgil. I forgot. Are you looking for this?" She held up a steaming mug.

It was a big mug.

A big mug of coffee.

He gravitated towards it, his hands reaching out without thought.

Her beautiful laugh danced around him again.

For a second, he thought she might snatch it away, but no, she couldn't be that cruel, could she?

But then the warm ceramic was clutched in his fingers and hot liquid was pouring down his throat. A swallow and a blessed sigh. God, she made good coffee.

Her hand was back on his arm and her smile was divine.

The silence in the room crept slowly into his awareness as the first of the caffeine reached his bloodstream.

Every eye in the room was staring at him.

Blink.

Gordon arched an eyebrow, obviously biting back a grin.

Scott wasn't even bothering. His grin was all over his face.

John was employing his familiar, all knowing gentle smile but those turquoise eyes were dancing.

"Virgil!" Alan bounded up. "You should come see. Elspeth was able to help us locate the object. Thunderbird Five is transmitting live. We think it might be a new comet!" His little brother grabbed his arm and tugged him over to the holoprojector.

Scott's grin just got wider. "Good morning, Virgil!"

He almost lost some of his coffee thanks to Alan's enthusiasm.

Kayo's laugh followed him across the room.

-o-o-o-

There followed an extensive rundown on a random ball of rock and ice currently traversing their solar system.

It was interesting, Virgil had to admit it, and it was great seeing Alan so enthusiastic about it. Of course, once he started on his heroic tale of his and Scott's encounter with Halley's Comet, Virgil found himself tuning out.

He'd heard it a few times already.

At some point he was able to drift away from his babbling brother, step out onto the balcony and grab breakfast off the remains of the buffet that had obviously been left out for him. The last of the morning was as beautiful as the rest of the week had been. He had to admit that they had been very lucky.

A glance down at the caldera as he munched on a pastry, most definitely not cooked by his grandmother, and he spotted A Little Lightning resting quietly at her dock.

He found himself staring at the boat. Her yellow stripe, ever so Gordon, her gleaming hull, their short and shared history…

"She's a good-looking ship."

Virgil nearly jumped out of his skin for the second time in less than half an hour.

Gordon arched an eyebrow up at him. "You okay, Virg? How are you feeling?"

Exasperated. "I'm fine." He turned away, his eyes dancing across Mateo and its petrel colony.

A bird squawked loudly as if in recognition.

Gordon snorted. "So I hear."

Virgil glanced back at his brother. "What?"

All innocence. "What?"

"Gordon..." His tone was all warning.

His brother downed his drink. "So, we going to open that pile of presents or are we keeping them as ornaments?"

Virgil frowned. "Oh."

"Yes, oh. Johnny had to discover a comet to keep Alan distracted while we were waiting."

"Sorry."

Gordon rolled his eyes. "Gees, Virg, it's not a problem, just c'mon. Join us." And he was being dragged back into the house where everyone had gathered around the Christmas tree.

For the next hour or so it was simply family, friends, gifts and laughter. Scott in particular, was in a jovial mood, his grin an apparent fixture on his face. Melissa was never far from him.

It became very clear that Scott, and possibly Gordon, had been Christmas shopping that morning, probably on the other side of the world, because there were presents under the tree that hadn't been there the night before. There may have been an abuse of International Rescue technology to obtain it all, but the smiles on their guests' faces when presented with Christmas gifts may have been worth his brothers' transgressions.

Almost.

Virgil sat on the lounge, a brother either side of his feet peering up at him as he opened a present wrapped in green tissue paper. The material inside was also green and when he held it up, it unfolded into a t-shirt.

Written across the front were the words 'I'M FINE'.

Behind the curtain of fabric, a brother snorted.

"Gordon."

"What?"

Virgil exhaled and dropped his hands into his lap with the shirt. Glaring at his grinning brother, he held Gordon's gaze for a moment before shuffling out of his seat and standing up.

Both Alan and Gordon scampered away from his feet.

"Virg…" Scott's tone was worried.

Virgil ignored him and continued to glare at Gordon.

The aquanaut's expression faltered a little and Virgil mentally tagged himself a point.

He then took the trophy by shucking off his shirt and undershirt in front of all of them.

The breeze was cool through the open doors of the balcony as he awkwardly dragged the new t-shirt over his head, aware of every eye in the room staring at him.

He pulled the green material down over his healing incisions and glared at his brothers, starting with Gordon, who appeared somewhat gobsmacked a moment before once again bursting into a grin, and following around the room to each of his other brothers.

He didn't fail to notice a strange smile on Kayo's lips as he did so.

"Now, I hope this means I don't have to keep repeating myself?"

Silence and lots of staring.

A snort from Gordon. "Sure, Virg. We all think you're pretty fine." He followed it with a snicker.

There was an odd sound from Penelope's direction, but when Virgil darted a look at her, she appeared to be smothering a delicate cough.

Her eyes were sparkling at him though.

Oh, for the love of-

"You're great, Virgil." Alan was grinning.

"Like china." John was not even trying to keep a straight face.

"Whatever you say, Virg." Scott had his arm around Melissa and was grinning like a loon.

Somehow the points were being racked up by his brothers now.

His glare turned flat and he lowered himself awkwardly back onto the lounge. He didn't miss Gordon's attempt to reach out and help him.

Another glare and Virgil grunted, crossing his arms across his chest in an almost pout. "You're lucky I love you guys."

There was an outburst of more laughter. Virgil tried to hold his disgruntled expression, but a kiss by Grandma on the cheek broke his determination.

"You're a shit, Gordon."

"And you love me." Still grinning.

Virgil couldn't help himself. He grabbed the Fish by the scruff of his neck and wrangled him into a half hugging noogie, messing his hair up royally. Virgil had to admit that Gordon was likely playing along because his big brother certainly wasn't up to wrestling with him, and as Penelope burst into laughter, Virgil found himself getting soppy.

The noogie turned into a full-on bear hug.

Chlorine scented hair caught in his nostrils.

"Virg?"

"Huh?"

A wheeze. "Need to breathe."

"All your fault." He let his brother go.

Gordon sat up on the lounge, straightening his shirt and running his hands through his hair. A glance of fond exasperation and he turned away. "Okay, Allie, time to see that painting."

"So, it is a painting?" Alan shot off the floor and dashed over to the tree where the huge present was leaning against the wall.

There followed many exclamations at Virgil's skill in crafting Thunderbird Three in flight. Hell, even John put in a request for one of Five, so maybe he managed the stars part of the project accurately enough.

He must remember to ask Alan to grab some shots of John's 'bird next time he was up there. Or maybe he would hitch a ride and go up himself.

That thought led to visualising possible compositions, moving Five around in his head, whether he should include Earth in the background, which bit of Earth – Tracy Island, of course – which constellations, what time of year, whether he could lean on artistic license or whether inaccuracies would bug his brother silly. Most likely the latter, so there would be some research involved. Perhaps Alan could help him with that. Actually, that wouldn't be a bad idea. A good excuse to spend some time with his little brother.

He eyed Alan and the young astronaut turned a questioning look in his direction. Virgil just smiled a little at him.

Alan's face burst into a grin and Virgil found himself subject to another brotherly hug. "Thank you, Virgil."

He returned the hug with gusto. "Anytime, Allie."

Apparently, today was the day for being soppy because he clutched his brother tighter.

Anytime.

-o-o-o-

Virgil spent the rest of the morning sitting on that couch enjoying his family. Of course, the conversation did drift into areas of less pleasantness. Penelope assured them that the Polominka guy would never be able to hurt any wildlife again.

Her phrasing was closer to 'never be able to visit a bathroom unsupervised', but the meaning was the same. WASP had the craft responsible impounded and John had given them the frequency needed to veto the cloaking system they were using for the nets.

Gordon's expression as he listed the areas of the planet caught up in this was colder than the icecaps. Melissa and Sam's could only be described by non-terrestrial objects.

It didn't get cold enough on Earth.

But for the most part, the discussion kept away from work and Virgil revelled in having his family so close and so relaxed.

Well, mostly relaxed.

He didn't miss the furtive looks in his direction every now and again and the complete lack of mention of the elephant...really, the whales...in the room.

He refused to acknowledge it.

Lunch was another buffet, this one consisting of almost every Christmas food imaginable. Kayo was once again the director of the meal. Virgil had no idea how she had kept Grandma out of the kitchen, but with a mix of catered dishes from the mainland and a few choices of her own, it was a wondrous spread.

Virgil took to the food with gusto, despite having only recently downed his late breakfast. Christmas Day was not a day for considered eating. Christmas Day was for pure enjoyment of food and family and he had every intention of doing exactly that.

Of course, so much carbohydrate and heavy foods, topped off by a rare indulgence of alcohol, did what they always did and the whole family ended up lounging like a bunch of dopey sea lions. Lady Penelope did it with style down on the pool deck, but Melissa fell asleep on Scott's shoulder and Sam snuggled up with Liam on the balcony. Virgil had yet to work out whether the pair were asleep and staying upright due to certain laws of physics or if they were awake and just enjoying the moment.

None of his business anyway.

At some point he turned in his seat to find Kayo beside him. He sent her a soporific smile followed by a yawn. If he flushed at her grin, he was ignoring it.

"How are you feeling?"

"'M fine."

She snorted. "I can see that."

A gentle poke to his chest and he looked down to realise he was still wearing Gordon's t-shirt.

He grunted. Maybe he could buy his fish brother a t-shirt in return. But what to put on it was beyond his current brain capacity. Instead, he found himself staring at Kay's knees.

They were nice knees. His eyes automatically broke down the subtle shades of light and dark and idly sketched out how he would go about drawing her legs.

It took him a whole several seconds to realise what he was doing, realise Kay knew exactly what he was doing, and realise she was smiling at him.

Every blood cell in his body dropped what it was doing and rushed to his head.

That only made her smile more.

"I know I don't wear a dress very often, but I would have thought you had seen my knees before, Virgil."

"Uh..." Nope, no excuses are available at this time. Please try again later. "Sorry."

The sound of her laughter was both wonderful and mortifying.

He shifted where he sat. It was suddenly very hot inside. Perhaps he should go for a walk.

He shuffled to the edge of the sofa and moved to push himself to his feet, only to be stopped by a slim hand.

It forced him to look at her.

And he couldn't help staring.

God, she was beautiful.

He swallowed the thought and put it down to the day, the dinner, the alcohol, and the fact he was recovering from surgery. Yes, that was it.

It had nothing to do with that summer dress, her collarbone, the fact she had her hair down...

He blinked. She had her hair down.

Kay never had her hair down.

"You have your hair down."

She frowned a little. "Are you sure you're okay?"

He didn't acknowledge the question. Instead his eyes tracked the soft waves of her dark hair, once again breaking apart tones, listing the colours he would need, the palette, the gentle green of her eyes...

"Virgil?"

There was a sound to create that exact colour.

He whispered it under his breath.

A hand touched his cheek and he startled. Those musical eyes were staring at him worriedly. "Virgil, speak to me."

"Don't go."

It was her turn to blink. "Excuse me?"

"Uh..." Words. He needed words. A hum grew in his throat and he had to swallow it. "On the mission...in January."

Her frown grew puzzled. "Why?"

"Because I don't want you to." The words tumbled from his mouth, uncensored.

She stared at him a moment as if trying to process what he was saying. "It's important, Virgil. We have a lead on one of the Chaos Crew's supply lines. If we can cripple it, we can prevent some of the damage they do."

He swallowed and looked away, his head suddenly buzzing. It was her job. That was all.

"Virgil?" She reached out and touched him. He had to force himself not to flinch. "What's wrong?"

It was definitely too hot in here now. And to top it all off, John, the physically closest of his brothers must have picked up vibes or something, because now he was frowning at Virgil from their father's desk, copper eyebrows concerned. No doubt Virgil would be asked about his health any second.

"Nothing." He stood up, thigh muscles working where his abdomen couldn't. The sudden change in altitude combined with that extra glass of beer earlier thwarted any smooth escape he could have made. The world spun for a moment, just enough for him to stumble slightly.

Kay caught his arm, his name on her lips yet again.

"Why don't you want me to go?"

Again, he was forced to look at her and those green eyes pierced him through. "Uh…" Because of Rigby. Because of self-doubt. Because of…fear. "Because…"

Her hand cupped his cheek and suddenly her lips were on his, ever so soft. Fleeting. Smiling. Whispering. Her breath was warm against his cheek as her arms draped around his neck. "I will come back, you know." Her eyes sparkled up at him and her smile widened.

Words failed him.

That smile became a grin, an impish one.

"H…how do you do that?" His hands tentatively reached out to her waist, wanting to draw her in. "How do you know?"

She tilted her head to one side. "I've known you a long time, Virgil Tracy." Her hand touched his cheek again and her expression turned fond. "You're an open book." A curl of her lips. "And an enticing read."

"Uh…" But she was kissing him again and his brain short circuited.

"Oh, god, it is about time."

Her lips slipped from his. "Watch it, Fish."

She didn't let go of him.

In Virgil's peripheral vision, Gordon held up his hands. "Okay, okay. Just glad to see you got tighty-whities out of his closet."

That prodded Virgil and he glared at his brother. "Gordon!"

Of course, looking away from Kay made him remember exactly where he was.

Oh, shit.

John was smiling at him from their dad's desk.

Scott was grinning as he lay back on his lounger, Melissa curled up asleep under one arm. His eyes glittered in the sunlight from the glass above.

Gordon had apparently come up for a drink refill, having been paddling about in the pool with Penny and Alan. Fortunately, Sam and Liam were facing the ocean and hadn't noticed the focus of attention. Grandma, Parker, Brains and Elspeth were nowhere to be seen, but no doubt the word would spread.

The word.

He looked down at Kay. What was the word?

"Kay?"

"I think we need to talk. Don't you?"

Words escaped him again and it must have shown on his face because Kayo laughed and drew him close, resting her head on his shoulder. "Don't worry, I can read a little more."

He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair.

Oh.

God.

-o-o-o-

End Day Five, Part Two


	20. Day Five - Pt3

And here we have the last chapter before the Epilogue :D

This fic is my tagsecretsanta fic for 2019 and it is for scattergraph .

Spoilers and warnings: A little Virgil/Kayo, a little Scott/Mel and a lot of brotherly fluff.

-o-o-o-

Kayo eventually dragged him out of the comms room and away from his brothers enough to find a quiet spot and talk it all out. They ended up on Two's runway, A Little Lightning rocking gently below them. The breeze teased his hair.

Yes, she was interested in him.

No, she wasn't interested in Wayne Rigby.

Yes, she had been interested for a while.

No, she hadn't said anything until she realised he felt the same.

She kissed him again at that point and his world narrowed to her touch, her lips, her tongue, the woman in his arms. How had this happened?

How had she known?

Perhaps it didn't matter, perhaps he should just accept the miracle for what it was. Kayo Kyrano, strong, independent, smart, cat-like and gorgeous was interested in him.

She laughed as if reading his mind.

Those green eyes...he hummed the sound that made the colour. Or part of the sound, because it wasn't quite right. He couldn't...

"Virgil?"

He startled. Her hand was on his arm and she was frowning up at him. The palms rattled a little above them.

He opened his mouth. "There's a sound that makes the colour of your eyes. A transition between wave and sunlight, kelp forest and sky." He hummed again, but hit the same frustration. "I can't..." He sighed and looked away.

Her hand on his arm tightened. "The whales?"

He let his head drop, but said nothing.

"You need to speak to Gordon."

"Kay-"

"You're not fine, Virgil. You haven't been fine since I set eyes on you yesterday. Something happened out there and it has affected you whether you want to acknowledge it or not." Her lips thinned. "You need to speak to Gordon. He will know who to speak to."

"Sam." He wasn't sure why he was reluctant. He had encouraged Scott to invite the cetacean biologist over yesterday. Yet since last night, something was holding him back.

An internal sigh. No, he knew what it was.

He was scared.

Of what, he didn't know, but there was definitely fear. It writhed in his belly.

Colours, song, an endless ocean. It was tantalising, poetic, mysterious. Perhaps he didn't want an explanation, perhaps he wanted to keep the magic alive.

Well, that was just stupid.

There was a musical note for stupid. It paired with a jagged shape and a sickly colour.

His fingers twitched.

Oh, hell.

"Gordon, grab Sam and meet Virgil out on Two's runway."

He blinked at her. Kay was never one to beat around the bush. Gordon's acknowledgement was concise.

She was right, but… "Kay…"

She reached up and cupped his cheek. "I'll still be here."

He covered her hand with his own, almost scared that she would vanish and that this sudden revelation was just a dream. "Promise?" It was whispered.

She smiled up at him, but anything further she had to say was interrupted by Gordon clattering out of Two's hangar and onto the tarmac, Sam behind him.

Those green eyes darted to his brother for a moment before looking back up at him. "Promise." Her lips curled up around that single word and she withdrew her hands and stepped back as Gordon approached. She turned to the aquanaut as he neared.

"Look after him."

Those three words stopped Gordon in his tracks. A flicker of comical fear flashed across his brother's face. "Okay?"

With that, Kay smiled at Virgil again before turning and leaving, her hair rippling in the breeze behind her as she made her way back to the hangar.

"Now, that's a little scary."

Virgil straightened where he stood. Okay, let's do this.

He caught both Gordon and Sam with his eyes. "We need to talk."

-o-o-o-

Gordon had half expected Kayo's call. Virgil had been fidgety all day. Scott had pulled Gordon aside at one point and expressed his concern, but there was nothing they could really do until Virgil made his move. Pushing him into anything would have gotten them nowhere. Virgil could be the most stubborn of them all. So, they sat back and waited, gave Virg his space and watched.

Trust Tin to kick his ass into shape.

From the moment Tin kissed Virgil it was a matter of countdown. Gordon had even dragged himself out of the pool, downed a coffee and poked Sam awake.

It wasn't planned or conspired, just inevitable.

Sam guzzled a coffee beside him.

"You think he'll talk to us."

"I think he won't have a choice. You don't say 'no' to Kayo."

"So, they're a thing now?"

Gordon shrugged. "I don't know. I do know he has a thing for her. He tries to hide it but we're family." Which was why Gordon and the rest of them knew there was something not right with the second eldest. He had been foggy, daydreaming and not-all-there since he had walked in so late this morning.

So, it was with both eagerness and a little dread that he stepped out onto Two's runway, tablet in hand, and with a little hope that this could be the start of a healing process for his brother.

Tin was standing close with Virgil and Gordon's heart warmed at the sight. His brother didn't stand a hope.

That heart stuttered a moment later as his sister made her departure with those three words that implied possible death if Gordon didn't look after his brother.

"Now, that's a little scary." And somewhat terrifying. Pranking Virgil from this point onwards may include having to cater to Kayo kicking his ass in retaliation.

He swallowed. Well, whatever made his bro happy.

Virgil straightened where he stood, determination in every line. "We need to talk."

Gordon reflexively parroted his brother's stance, his spine whipping to attention. Virgil may not be military, but his passion demanded respect.

"Then speak to me, bro."

Virgil sighed and despite that determination, his shoulders shifted down a little. "I need information." He turned to Sam. "Can you help me?"

"I can certainly try." Sam had none of his usual bouncy enthusiasm. Something in Virgil's agitation was communicating the seriousness of the situation.

"How do whales communicate?"

Sam opened his mouth and there began Whale Communication 101 with a minor in whale anatomy.

Sam was concise, but comprehensive. He'd obviously refreshed his knowledge overnight and even Gordon learnt a few new things.

They ended up perched on a circle of rocks under one of the palm trees, Virgil's dark eyes fixated on Sam as he answered every question Virgil threw at him.

And there were many. How did their sonar work? What frequencies did humpback whales use to sing? What research has been done in this area? Had anyone been able to actually communicate before?

"No." Sam's voice was firm.

"Not even other musicians?" Virgil stared at him.

Sam shook his head. "They were all ignored."

"What about using the right frequencies?"

Sam shook his head again. "You're the first." His friend bit his lip. "What is it like?"

There was suddenly a vulnerability in Virgil's eyes that had Gordon wanting to stop this, stop this immediately, and he had to restrain himself. Virgil needed to talk it through.

"I…it's…hard to describe." An exasperated exhale. "In fact, that is the hardest of all of this. I can't…express it. The colours, the shapes, the emotion…it's all there, in my head, but I can't articulate it, I can't understand it, it's just…a mess."

Gordon's eyes widened as Virgil waved a frustrated hand at nothing in particular, his focus drifting for just a second as his thoughts turned inward. The hand landed on his thigh and Gordon eyed those fingers as they desperately tapped out a beat on his brother's jeans.

"Colours? Whales don't see in colour. They don't have the physical capability." Sam's eyes were as wide as Gordon's, staring at Virgil.

His brother's head snapped up. "Yes, they do."

"No, they don't. They don't have the required cone cells in their retinas. They see in monochrome." Sam was leaning forward.

"No, they see colour." Virgil's eyes focussed inward again. "So many shades of blue, green, the hot pink of exuberance, the yellow of warm sunshine, the deep midnight of sadness, the rainbow of sunset on cooling skin, white of pain, grey of threat…the black of loss. So many colours." Virgil turned away and looked out into the caldera a moment before turning back and pinning Sam with his eyes. "It's in the sound. You have to listen to the music." To Gordon's astonishment, Virgil sung a handful of notes only to break off and frown, yet again in frustration. "But I can't…!" Virgil's hands balled into fists.

Sam was staring wild eyed. "You can understand them?"

"Yes! No! Hell, I don't know!"

Gordon reached out and placed a hand on Virgil's shoulder. "Hey, take a breath. We have time. We can work this out."

Troubled brown eyes latched onto his. "It's in my head, Gordy, and I can't get it out. I can't sing it, I can't paint it, I can't express it, I can't even understand it! It's just…argh!" He clutched at his face, his fingers tangling in his hair.

"Virgil!" Gordon grabbed his brother's arms and gently pulled them away from his head. "We'll work this out. You're not alone." He drew in a breath. "Never alone."

To Gordon's horror, tears glistened in Virgil's eyes as he stared back at him. The whales suddenly became a threat to Gordon's family and he had the urge to protect his big brother from whatever the hell it was they were doing to him.

A window into Scott's world was never clearer.

But Virgil composed himself. Voice rough. "It's okay, Gords." A dragged in breath. "I'm okay."

Gordon's grip on Virgil's wrists just got tighter. "Are you kidding me? You have the t-shirt, but that is total bullshit."

"Gordon-"

"No. They've gotten into your head and good or bad we are going to work through this until you are 'okay', okay?"

Virgil sighed and looked down before frowning at him again. "How?"

Sam cut in and Gordon startled. He had almost forgotten his friend was there. "Talk to the whales." Virgil's eyes hit the man and Sam's voice became pleading. "Explain it to them. Ask them. Learn from them. Get more information and we can work it out. The more information we have the better we can understand it." Sam's passion rose to the surface. "This is a massive breakthrough, Virgil. You can interpret another species language."

"No, I can't. That is the problem, Sam."

His friend's pale blue-green eyes didn't back down. "Yes, you can. Partially at least. You've said the words yourself. You've labelled colours. You've spoken of emotions and intent. You are communicating, Virgil." If it was possible, the intensity in Sam's eyes just lit up more. "And they know it. They sought you out. They responded. They know you. You've made a connection."

Gordon let Virgil's wrists go and his brother dropped his hands in his lap. "Virg, we've got this. John is on it. We have the technology; we have Sam and Mel and you have all of us. We can do this. Give yourself the chance."

Those brown eyes fixated back on Gordon and the vulnerability was back. Hell, Gordon would do anything to protect his brother. Anything. "We've got this, Virg. Trust me."

"I do, Gords. Always have."

"Then let's do this."

The familiar phrase rang between them and Virgil responded, his body straightening where he sat. Voice still rough. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"FAB."

-o-o-o-

Scott stood on the end of the main balcony peering out towards Two's runway at the three figures sitting under the palm trees.

He bit his lip.

Mel was still asleep on the lounger. He should have stayed with her, but he was edgy and worried about his brother.

Kayo had walked through the comms room sometime earlier and the expression on her face made it plain that Virgil was speaking to Gordon and Sam. A long due discussion.

His brother, the whale whisperer. The whole concept was ridiculous, but apparently a thing.

"What the hell?!"

Scott jumped and Mel rolled over and off the lounger she was lying on. Scott hurried over to help her up. "Alan!"

But the young astronaut ignored him, shooting up from where he was sitting on one of the couches and dashed to end of the balcony where Scott had been standing a moment before. His game console hung from one hand. "John, you are dead!"

"What?" John's voice wafted up from the pool deck below. "What did I do?!"

"You strip mined my sun!"

"What? No, I didn't. How do you strip mine a sun?"

"What's going on?" Mel frowned up at him. She was adorably mussed and dopey looking. He couldn't help but kiss her hair.

"Hey, Dimples. Focus." She smiled up at him.

"Oh, okay." So, he focussed on kissing her thoroughly.

Her hand fluttered against his shoulder a moment before he gained her full attention and…hmmm.

Another squawk of anger from his youngest brother. "A black hole?! You ignited a black hole! You asshole!"

"Alan!" Grandma's voice stabbed in from below somewhere and snapped Scott out of his pre-occupation.

Mel grinned up at him as he pulled away in automated embarrassment.

"It's not fair, Grandma, he cheated!"

"That does not excuse your language, young man. We have guests!"

"I did not cheat."

Really, did they have to yell across levels?

"It's a black hole, John! You sucked in my entire solar system. If you don't stop it, you're going to take out the whole damn galaxy!"

"Alan!" This time it was Scott admonishing him.

"It's not fair!"

John's voice was puzzled. "I didn't do that." A scuffle of shoes on concrete and the scrape of a lounger. "Hell, I didn't do any of that. Alan, did you set off a supernova in sector seventeen?"

"Seventeen? I haven't even been to seventeen." Alan glared at his game console. "You're in seventeen already?!"

"I was. A supernova obliterated my base."

"Well, I didn't do it."

Scott bit back an emerging grin. Oh, shit.

"This is impossible." It was distracted and a sure sign John was poking into code.

He let the grin out and gave it a countdown from five.

"Virgil!"

-o-o-o-

The discussion about whales came to an abrupt and yelling-infused end as Alan jumped on comms and gave his engineer brother a piece of his mind.

John was less exuberant and ever so curious as to how Virgil had managed to not only enter the game without either John or Alan noticing, but then catch up, overtake and obliterate, all within the rules.

Virgil was glad it wasn't initially a visual signal, and only Gordon and Sam got to see his smirk when he answered that it was 'for him to know and his space brothers to find out'.

John would, no doubt, take that as a challenge.

Alan would probably just take a note out of Gordon's book and stick jello in his bed sheets in revenge.

The arched eyebrow on Gordon's face was amusing.

But most of all, at John and Alan's expense, Virgil felt the pall lifting. It was a pall he hadn't even been aware was there. Sure, he was tired and the whale song was frustrating, but it had been a good day.

It was the heavy conversation, the focus on the issue and the confusion in his head.

It was Christmas, for crying out loud.

Theoretically, he had just kicked both his space brothers' butt at the game they were all so cocky over. Well, technically he had simply asked Eos to act in his stead. He had taken one look at the game on his tablet that afternoon on Raoul, worked out a basic strategy, then asked Eos to sneak in and execute it for him.

He hadn't asked her to hide it from anyone. Just to not mention it unless someone asked.

Eos really did love a good game after all.

And it wasn't cheating if he was just smart enough to appoint a proxy who could do the job for him.

He'd even asked Eos to backup the game as it was before she entered so the entire scenario could be saved for his brothers to tackle again once he and Eos had taught them a lesson.

Virgil was quite chuffed when it took John a whole fifteen minutes to decipher exactly what had happened.

"Virgil!"

His red-haired brother was glaring at him across the comms room, fit to blow a circuit. "You coerced Eos?!"

A shrug. "No? She was bored. Gave her something to do, that's all." He relaxed back against the lounge. Kay found an excuse to join him and he was ever so appreciative when her hand crept into his.

"Eos!"

"I don't know what the problem is, John. It was fun." She snorted. Apparently, their AI could snort. "It is what you programmed me to do, after all. Virgil asked and I agreed."

John opened his mouth, but nothing further came out for a full five seconds. Then, determinedly at the ceiling. "We will be discussing this."

"We will? I'm looking forward to it. You should see how easy it is to strip mine a sun. The amount of energy I gained was extremely efficient and it allowed me to advance at a pace neither of you seem to have achieved. I have also developed some real-world models that you might be interested in. Application would have to be postponed until interstellar transport has been achieved. Though I have some thoughts on that as well. I would be very interested in what you think of these equations." A bunch of numbers and symbols appeared in the centre of the comms room. "I'm not sure the energy expenditure variable is viable, however we could leverage this with some assistance from our own sun." And she kept throwing out ideas that widened John's eyes enough to dry them out and send them bloodshot.

Eos stopped eventually, possibly sensing an imminent explosion from her father. John was glaring daggers at Virgil.

Virgil shrugged. "She enjoyed it."

John's expression was somewhat comical and it was enough to set off Alan, who burst into laughter. Gordon was grinning like a loon as was Scott and Virgil found himself joining them.

John glared at all of them before settling into one of the lounges, tablet still in hand with more amused disgruntlement than anger on his face.

Maybe Virgil had to worry about jello from John's direction rather than Alan's?

-o-o-o-

The evening meal was a relaxed one.

Scott dragged out the barbecue and a variety of meat was charred on its hotplate. Virgil stood up to cook, as that was usually his task, but Sam shoo-ed him away and after taking one look at what Scott was attempting to do with the food, kicked him off the Tracy grill as well.

They were all the better for it.

Salads, desserts and even a bowl of marshmallows found their way out onto the patio.

Good food and good company, it was a lovely night as the sun headed towards the horizon on the other side of the Island.

Virgil sat on the edge of conversation, willing to just watch his beloved family. His brothers who had done so much just to get him home. God, he loved them.

Scott sat with his arm around Melissa more relaxed than he had seen him in months. Gordon had tinsel in his hair and was chasing Sherbet around the pool, apparently trying to decorate him, too. Alan had cornered Elspeth again and was chatting away a mile a minute. Regardless, she appeared fully invested in what he was saying.

John was glaring at his tablet, no doubt attempting to out thwart Eos. Now that would be the match of the millennium. Genius father versus AI daughter. Virgil had the urge to step back just in case something exploded.

And sitting beside him was Kay, who wasn't interested in Wayne Rigby. Kay, who smiled at him with her beautiful green eyes.

Again, the song for that colour danced in his mind.

He squeezed her hand, rolled himself off his lounger and stumbled to his feet.

Oh, so elegant, Virgil. An internal sigh as every eye in the room targeted him.

"I'm fine."

Scott grabbed a marshmallow and threw it at him.

It left a puff of icing sugar in the middle of his chest.

Gordon snorted and Alan giggled.

Virgil rolled his eyes. "The bathroom, guys, yeesh." He turned and trundled himself back towards the house.

"Have fun!"

He didn't even bother to turn around. "Hilarious, Gordon."

"You're welcome."

He didn't bother to even acknowledge that.

He didn't return to the party immediately. The ocean caught his eye and he had the irresistible need to climb down to the shore.

His brothers didn't comment as he walked straight past them and down towards the huts, but he felt their eyes.

Really, he couldn't blame them. He had scared them and then done a number with the whales. He owed his family so much.

Something lodged in his throat and he had to swallow hard.

His feet hit volcanic sand and sunk, cool grains slipping between his toes. The lagoon lapped gently at the edge of the beach. It was such a contrast to the roaring ocean of Oneraki on Raoul. There were no hot springs here, the Tracy Island volcano was long dead, thankfully. This beach was his beach. Volcanic sand marbled with coral sand and he traced the pattern with his toe.

There was a sound for sand and it was both beautiful and terrifying.

The colours were a kaleidoscope of meaning.

He let a breath out and raised his eyes towards the darkening horizon.

"Virgil?" Are you okay?

He closed his eyes.

Scott.

Another breath and he turned to face his brother. "No. I'm not. But I will be. I promise." A half smile. "In the meantime, I'm thankful, grateful and ever so lucky. My family is more than I could ever ask for."

That stopped his brother in his tracks and Virgil found himself smiling.

"Uh, John wanted me to give you this." Scott held up a tablet.

John's tablet.

John never let that out of his sight.

Scott approached and touched the device. A world globe appeared above it. Another twitch of fingers and it zoomed into the map far to the south of Tracy Island where a dot blinked. "John wanted you to know that he and Eos are tracking the mother and calf." A swipe and Scott zoomed in even further, the tablet obviously connected to Five.

Sunset lit ocean was interrupted by a spout of water and he watched as ever so far away, Mamma Whale took a breath followed by her daughter before dipping below the waves.

Virgil sucked in a breath and looked up at his brother.

Scott's smile was soft but said everything.

God, he was ever so lucky.

Virgil turned away towards the lagoon and its gentle waters and blinked.

"Thank you."

Scott didn't answer, but a hand did land on his shoulder and Virgil took the opportunity to just exist beside his brother, on his beach with his family…

Here on Tracy Island.

-o-o-o-

End Day Five.


	21. Epilogue: The Skipper

_IT'S FINISHED!_

_::dances around the room like a loon::_

_Finished before next Christmas! Woohoo!_

_This fic is my tagsecretsanta fic for 2019 and it is for scattergraph . _

_AND IT IS FINISHED! 68,000 words! My longest Thunderbirds fic!_

_Many, many thanks for onereyofstarlight who geeked out with me major league on this fic and helped me with research (oh, there was soooo much research for this fic) and reading through whatever I came up with and cheerleading :D Also, many thanks to scribbles97 i-am-chidorixblossom and vegetacide who also put up with all my crazy and wibblies and for reading through when I scream at random times 'Does this work or it is crud?' And, of course, to Thunderfam, who have taken this crazy whale fic on and cheered me to the finish line. Thank you alll sooo much ::hugs for everybody:: Yes, I'm a little excited. __**To start is fun, but to finish is ecstacy**__ \- I had that on my studio wall for a long time :D_

_I hope you enjoy this last bit of the Kermadec Fic :D_

_Epilogue: The Skipper_

-o-o-o-

It was late at night on Christmas Day and most of the family and their guests had retired to bed. Scott was intending on doing the same when he noticed light under the infirmary door.

Concerned that Virgil might be hiding something, he nudged the door open.

He was surprised to find Grandma staring at a hologram, her back to him.

"Grandma?"

She jumped. "Oh, Scott. Give me a heart attack why don't you?"

The hologram disappeared.

"What's wrong?" He frowned at her. His grandmother had been acting odd all day. Not obviously, but he knew his grandmother, something was worrying her.

To find her here, of all places, past midnight on Christmas Day…

"It's nothing, dear. Just looking for some paracetamol for a bit of a headache."

He stepped inside the room and shut the door behind him. "Grandma, you are as bad at it as Virgil is."

"At what?"

"Lying."

"Scott Tracy, how dare you."

He narrowed his frown. "Grandma…"

She glared at him for several seconds before his glare won out. Her shoulders dropped. "You are far too much like your father for your own good, Scott."

"I'll take that as a compliment." When she still didn't answer his initial question, he repeated it. "What is wrong, Grandma?"

She sighed. "It's probably nothing."

Why was she so reluctant? "Grandma…"

Another defiant glare, but she poked at the holographic controls. "This is between you and me or I'll cook for you exclusively for the next three years, you hear me?"

"Yes, Grandma." But his eyes were already tracking across the hologram. A mass of wriggly lines hovered in front of him. It reminded him of a seismograph readout or one of Alan's games stats graphs he liked to show off. It meant about just as much to him as the latter.

It had Virgil 's name written above it.

He didn't have to ask.

"I did a brainwave scan when I assessed Virgil yesterday. This was the result." She pointed at the mess of lines. "I compared it to his last scan." She poked the hologram again and another bunch of wiggly lines appeared beside the first. It meant little to him, but undoubtedly something to his medical grandmother.

"And?"

She eyed him a moment before prodding several of the lines to highlight them. "There are differences."

"Fluctuations?"

"No. Differences. Something has changed."

"What has changed?"

She didn't answer immediately and he received the impression that she didn't want to commit to answering. "Grandma, if this is something to be concerned about, I need to know. Virgil needs to know."

She turned to look at him. "It may be nothing."

"But it is bothering you."

She sighed. "There are changes in both his delta and beta wave production."

"What does that mean?"

"Not much."

"Grandma!"

"Scott, changes can be perfectly normal."

"Then why is this bothering you?"

"Because John sent me Eos' research." She swiped at the hologram again and Eos' graph detailing the similarities between Virgil's delta wave production and that of the binaural beat produced by the whale song. "The delta waves matched, which leads me to believe where it started, but look at the beta wave production before the whales and after." She highlighted the data and Scott stared at it.

The changes were obvious.

"What does it mean?"

"I'm not a neural specialist, Scott."

"Then why aren't we sending him to one?"

"It may be nothing."

"It is obviously something!"

"Scott. There is no sign of impairment."

"Except he's talking to whales!"

She held up her hands. "Calm down. It is minor."

"It doesn't look minor."

"And this is exactly why I haven't mentioned it. I need to do some further investigation before I alarm anyone."

Too late.

She might as well have heard as she turned to look up at him. "Scott, trust me. I will investigate. I have contacts. I will be discreet."

He stared at her. "Grandma…"

Her glare was firm. "Trust me."

Why was everyone asking him to do that lately? It was so damn hard to give the reins to others.

Her hand landed on his arm. "I love him as much as you do."

Damnit.

He deflated just a little. "I know."

"I will ask some questions. The answers will let us know if we need to investigate further."

Her hand squeezed his arm and her eyes held his that moment longer.

He had no choice. "Yes, Grandma."

"I will keep you advised."

"Thank you." He held her eyes a moment longer and he saw the worry in their depths.

"Go to bed, Scott." He felt her urge for him not to worry, but her lack of saying proved she knew she would be wasting her breath.

"Yes, Grandma."

She squeezed his arm again before pulling him into a gentle hug. "It will be okay, honey."

He bit his lip and held her. He closed his eyes for just a moment.

"Yes, Grandma."

She let him go and gave him a nudge towards the door.

His fingers drifted over her arm. A glance at the blasted hologram and he turned and left.

Mel was smiling at him when he arrived in his room and for a few moments he lost himself in her embrace.

"What's wrong?" She frowned up at him.

He smiled. "Nothing."

Her fingers ran tracks through his hair and she challenged him with her eyes. "Dimples?"

He smiled again and took her lips with his own.

He didn't want to talk.

At all.

-o-o-o-

FIN.


End file.
